![Five-Second Rule is a Myth Five-Second Rule is a Myth](https://images.medindia.net/health-images/1200_1000/childhood-obesity-junk-food.jpg)
In 2006 a study published by researchers at Clemson University found that 99 percent of bacterial cells on a sheet of tile transferred to a piece of bologna after a period of five seconds.
However, Gilbert said that while there is always a possibility of picking up a dangerous pathogen, the probability in sanitary countries like the U.S. is usually very low.
“I’ll make a point in my lectures of putting my hand on the floor and licking it,” Gilbert said. “If you’re healthy and not immuno-compromised, and your food falls on the floor, even if you’re a child, there’s normally no harm at all in consuming it.”
Even better, ingesting the microorganisms around you, especially as a child, could help lower the risk of developing asthma and allergies by desensitizing your immune system to allergenic stimuli.
“Eating food off of the floor, as an infant, could significantly reduce chances of having allergies, because you’re exposed to a larger variety of microorganisms,” Gilbert said. “That health benefit is normally attributed to building a tolerance to the outside world.”
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“I never found anything in any of the restrooms, homes or hospitals that I looked at where if I dropped food there would be a high probability that I’d get sick,” Gilbert said. “Just because something is unpleasant doesn’t make it harmful.”
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Source-Newswise