Testing the five-second rule.

• Position: BIOLOGY - Picking up food from the floor - Brief article

You may want to think twice about eating that candy you dropped on the floor. No matter how fast you pick up fallen food, you'll pick up bacteria with it, says a new study challenging the "five-second rule." Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey tested how watermelon, buttered and unbuttered bread, and gummy candy fared after being dropped on bacteria-filled stainless steel, ceramic tile, wood, or carpet. They found that whether the food touched the surface for less than a second or for 300 seconds, all were contaminated with the bacteria. The...