A carpet dealer in Chicago may be asked some unusual questions from customers over the years. One question this person might hear is whether the five-second rule is valid. Customers figure since this individual knows a lot about floor covering, expert insight will be available.
The Five-Second Rule
This folk wisdom rule states that it’s OK to eat food that’s hit the floor and picked back up within five seconds. Some researchers have tried to figure out how safe food is after this happens. They’ve made some interesting discoveries that a carpet dealer in Chicago might know about.
Carpet vs. Hard Surfaces
First, as long as the carpeting is clean, food that drops on carpet stays cleaner than food dropped on a hard flooring surface. That’s because the surface of the carpet is uneven due to the fiber material, whereas wood, tile, linoleum and other hard surfaces are flat. The food connects completely with the flat surface. With carpet, it only connects with the tips of the fibers. There are dozens or hundreds of tiny gaps in between.
Food Specifics
Sticky and moist food pick up more microbes than dry food does. Thus, it may be safe to eat a cookie that fell on the floor but not a frosted cinnamon roll. A dinner roll might be safe to eat after picking it up quickly, but not if it had butter on it. Often, the evidence of dust or other dirt can be seen in the frosting or the butter.
Concluding Thoughts
A representative from a supplier such as American Carpet Distributors may advise customers not to eat anything that falls on the floor, even if it’s picked up within one second. That’s the safest decision, after all.
However, parents know that their young children and teenagers will probably disregard this instruction. Those kids may not even have heard of the five-second rule; they just figure the food is still clean if they pick it up fast enough. In this case, the best solution is to buy a very effective vacuum cleaner and vacuum the carpeting regularly. Occasional deeper cleaning can be done with a steam cleaner or shampooing equipment.
