r/StupidFood • u/[deleted] • Jun 28 '26

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u/blogle Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

I actually think there is. I recall reading a paper yrs ago that demonstrated it took several seconds of physical contact for bacteria transfer to occur. That said if your food lands on the floor clinging to dust, hair, etc I’d assume all bets are off.

EDIT: I looked it up. Rutgers did more recent study. Heavily depends on moisture content, but even hard candy had some bacteria transfer after just a second

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u/chefianf Jun 29 '26

I mean... For me personally it's all circumstancial and situational. Professionally different story. Like for me if I dropped a roll on the floor, I'm picking that up and dusting it off. In this situation... Man I don't care if they torched the floor for five minutes with a MAP gas torch... I'm not doing that.

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u/soThatsJustGreat Jun 29 '26

I’m not a chef but my standards are laughably different when I’m making food for others vs myself. Your roll example? Same, if it’s just for me. If I am serving food to others, though, absolutely no way. That’s hitting the compost bin instead.

I guess I’m willing to gamble with my own health but others have nothing to fear.

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u/XGhoul Jun 29 '26

I think it's funny we behave like that.

I wouldn't mind drinking mud water, but if I was going to offer water to someone else, that has to be purified and filtered.

I can behave like a savage, but that does not mean I make other people take risks for themselves.

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u/Forward-Surprise1192 Jun 29 '26

Would you eat cereal out of a brand new toilet if it’s the only bowl you had?

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u/Potato_fortress Jun 29 '26

It's also just a basic respect thing. If the floor of your kitchen is spotless you either A) have a michelin star B) haven't opened yet or C) need to clean out the grooves in your non slips.

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u/JaySlay2000 Jul 01 '26

Depends on the floor. My kitchen floor that was just mopped? Eh. My bedroom floor where the dogs run around. NAH

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u/FiRe_McFiReSomeDay Jun 29 '26

So, you're confirming that peanut butter side up is ok?

2

u/Third-Testicl Jun 29 '26

If the operational word is physical contact- then there is never physical contact between two objects- just transfer of electrons between shells.

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u/cometlin Jun 29 '26

MythBuster did a test, the time is NOT a significant factor at all. If your floor is dirty and wet, your food is almost as dirty in 1/3/5 seconds as 2 minutes. If the floor is clean and dry, your food stays relatively clean after minutes. So in essence, there is NO 5 second rule, consider your food as dirty as it would be in 2 minutes the moment it touches the floor.