Food waste is a severe world problem that we should seek to alleviate. £10.2 billion is lost annually ($ 15.5 billion) on wasted food within the U.K. The U.S. never even touches 15 percent of what they produce in food, which costs the nation $ 43 billion annually. In such cases, you’d think the five second rule (picking up dropped food “in time”) appeal to the cash conscious. Yet the Chicago Tribune reports that food scientists like Paul Dawson of Clemson University assert the five second rule should be discarded along with the pallets of food numerous restaurants and grocery stores see fit to throw away instead of donate to homeless shelters.
Dawson: The five second rule should be a zero second rule
Considering that salmonella and other bacteria can live for up to four weeks on dry surfaces and instantly contaminate food on contact, maybe Dawson is on to something. The Connecticut College study that used apple slices and Skittles is Dawson’s main opposer. The apple took a minute to become infected, while the Skittles took four minutes more. Reduced food waste and improved childhood immune systems were connected to the five second rule in yet another study, this time at the University of Maine.
Dawson says location is key
The five second rule is arbitrary and meaningless, claims Dawson and others of comparable scholarly bent. A kitchen or bathroom floor will typically be home to numerous more harmful germs that cause illness, as outlined by numerous scientific studies. But Dawson’s work doesn’t mean any dropped food is gone; pick up the bagel that just hit the sidewalk and brush it off if you like. Amazingly, public sidewalks could be significantly cleaner, as they do not provide as numerous germ-favorable substances.
Five second psych
Like everyone else, the Tribune knows that you’ll pick up something if you really want it. Broccoli will sit when Pepperidge Farm can be remembered as part of your mouth, claim studies. And here’s food for thought – studies related to Dawson’s work found that women were more likely to pick up and continue eating dropped food than their male counterparts.
More details on this topic
featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2010/07/debunking-the-fivesecond-dropped-food-rule.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste
