Actually, it should be the thirty-second rule.
Working under the supervision of assistant professor Anne Bernhard, the two cell-and-molecular biology students experimented with samples of wet food (apple slices) and dry food (Skittles candy); food samples were left on the floor for various intervals, then analyzed for contamination, the college said.
According to Goettsche and Moin, the results of their research showed that people can wait as long as 30 seconds to pick up wet foods and even longer for dry foods.
Another potential finding perhaps: Either rogue bacteria don’t particularly like Skittles or the candies are impervious to their immediate depredations; in the students’ research, nearly five minutes elapsed before Skittles on the floor showed a bacterial presence.
Huh. Wonder how M&M’s would fare.
In any case: Cool! Thirty-second rule. Eat that floor food, folks!
Via Solly.
Of course, wet food will immediately adhere to dirt, long before the bacteria arrive….
A 30 year old twinkie had still not gone bad according to an article posted 8/13/2004 8:19 PM. It is possible that food like that would never pick up any bacteria.
How long can my cat carry around a piece of beef jerky before I take it away from him and eat it? The record is 10 minutes so far.
So when are they going to publish the results of that research project on eating ones nose pickings?
Okay, Bob, that’s just gross.
I mean, ew.