Dr Karl has answered the question -
- Tourfit wants to know if there's any scientific basis to the 3 second rule for dropping food.
I can confirm that the rule is utter crap. I am a Microbiologist - when you swab things to test for bacteria you touch the surfaces for less time than food stays on the ground - less time than 3 seconds - 1 second etc and you get bacterial growth if the area is not sterile. Hence eating stuff off the floor is eating food which has picked up bacteria off anything it has touched. You then risk the potential to ingest pathogenic bacteria, viruses and the like - you risk getting sick whether it be immediately with food poisoning or indirectly with worms. That being said food is not sterile and can also cause these things but hopefuly your food has been treated better to remove the nasties!