[mattaltieri]

I'm pretty sure the "5 second rule" is just something people (like myself) use to justify doing something gross, such as eating something that was dropped; and at least in my case, I never believed for a minute that it was "sanitary" if it spent less than 5 seconds on the floor.

It's more a mental thing ... if it's only been there for 5 seconds, it's cool. If it is longer than 5 seconds, well, then you're eating food that's been sitting on the floor. Now that I'm typing it, it makes even less sense -- but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing it. I've made it 30+ years without side-effect ... ha

[drb311]

If you really wanted to test the five second rule, you'd have to be broader. Who is overall better off?

1. The person who NEVER eats food off the floor 2. The person will ALWAYS eats food off the floor 3. The person who follows the 5-second rule

I wouldn't be surprised if the 5 second rule gives its followers a net benefit. You're slightly more likely to get sick, but you waste less food and live a less paranoid life.

I'm sticking with it, but not for watermelon.

[dvdcxn]

Exposure to bugs also builds up resistance. I wonder if eating food off the ground leaves you with a stronger immune system?

[r_smart]

The thing that really a noticeable difference in my immune system was working in a bar. You come into contact with so many people, many of whom don't take good care of themselves, and end up collecting / washing the glasses they have been drinking out of, shaking their hands, handling their IDs, wrestling them out of the building. I was sick constantly for like six months, but after that, I almost never got sick again.

Sadly, it appears to be wearing off. I was sick for a fair bit last winter, and it'll probably be the same again this year.

[CuriouslyC]

Purely anecdotal, but I eat lots of unpasturized fermented food, I re-use silverware/dishes/cutting board with just a quick moist cloth wipe, and I haven't been sick in around 7 years. Occasionally I'll notice increased mucus and mild inflammation my nose/throat that tells me I've been exposed to something, but it always goes away within about 8 hours.

[lexhaynes]

I noticed this as well when I started taking probiotics, eating unpasteurized cheeses, and having sauerkraut or kimchi every other day or so.

I'll get a sniffle for a day and then that'I'll be the end of it. I haven't been sick in a year.

[potatosoup]

Yeah, many of the comments talk about bacteria, evolution, our immune systems being able to deal with bacteria, and that is all fine and good.

But what about chemicals and cleaning supplies? Eg the floors in a restaurant (and tables, too) get cleaned with some strong chemical products. That's definitely not food grade and no amount of evolving is going to help you deal with that. I see people put their forks, etc, on directly on table surfaces that were previously wiped with a cleaning cloth and I think that's careless. The floor would be even worse.

Eating from your dog is fine and probably has health benefits. Eating from a (chemically cleaned) floor is still not.

[Houshalter]

The dose makes the poison. The amount of lysol residue or whatever that gets on your dropped skittle is tiny. You probably eat it all the time, whenever you touch the table and then your food.

Anyway in general danger of exposure to chemicals is seriously overblown. I love this E.T. Jaynes quote:

>...for virtually every organic substance (such as saccharin or cyclamates), the existence of a finite metabolic rate means that there must exist a finite threshold dose rate, below which the substance is decomposed, eliminated, or chemically altered so rapidly that it causes no ill effects. If this were not true, the human race could never have survived to the present time, in view of all the things we have been eating.

>Indeed, every mouthful of food you and I have ever taken contained many billions of kinds of complex molecules whose structure and physiological effects have never been determined – and many millions of which would be toxic or fatal in large doses. We cannot doubt that we are daily ingesting thousands of substances that are far more dangerous than saccharin – but in amounts that are safe, because they are far below the various thresholds of toxicity. At present, there are hardly any substances, except some common drugs, for which we actually know the threshold.

[drb311]

"I see people put their forks, etc, on tables"

What? If you can't put your forks on the table where can you put them?

I always put my fork on the table, that's what the tables for.

How do you lay your table?!

[nextweek2]

Forks are often wrapped or placed on a napkin you can then lean them against the plate whilst you're eating.

A posh restaurant would have a table cloth that would be cleaned daily with less harmful chemicals.

[donutz]

Wouldn't the napkin be touchin the table then? Or do you ask for a fresh napkin so you don't have to use the one from the table? And ask about the storage of the napkins and silverware, in comparison to any cleaning solutions or other chemicals?

[potatosoup]

Typical setting would be on top of a plate, on top of a napkin, wrapped in a napkin, etc., never directly onto a table surface.

[DanBC]

> Yeah, many of the comments talk about bacteria, evolution, our immune systems being able to deal with bacteria, and that is all fine and good.

It also ignores parasitic worms. People go blind from eg toxocara, which is spread by dog faeces. Only about 700 people per year in the US, but it's avoidable and preventable blindness.

> . I see people put their forks, etc, on tables that were previously wiped with a cleaning cloth and I think that's careless.

The amount of cleaning chemical you're going to eat by putting a fork on a table is tiny, and if that causes harm putting bare forearms on the table is going to be risky too.

[setrofim_]

> but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing it. I've made it 30+ years without side-effect ... ha

If anything, it's probably been of some marginal benefit -- keeping your immune system on its toes.

[Unbeliever69]

Exactly! For skittles, it's more like the 5 day rule!