How long before food dropped on the ground becomes off-limits?

Question

a) Right away!
b) 5 seconds
c) 10 seconds
d) What's wrond with food dropped on the ground?!

Answer 1

This question is complicated as it always matters where you drop it and when.
A flow chart is needed.

Lets start at where you drop it
1a. In your home----------go to 2
1b. In a public place-----go to 7

2a. On carpet-------------go to 3
2b. On hardfloor(tile,wood)----go to 5

3a. Carpet w/ animals in the house-----Throw it away
3b. Carpet w/o animals----Check for hair then go to 4

4a. No hair-----Eat it
4b. Hair----------Throw it away

5a. Floor was recently cleaned--------Eat it
5b. Floor is dirty------Inspect then go to 6

6a. Free of dirt and other food particles----Eat it
6b. Contains chip crumbs, sand, hair, etc----Throw it away

7a. Area of high traffic(Cafeterias, etc)----Throw it away
7b. Confined area(desk area,restraunts)----go to 8

8a. Confined area -----Go to 2

Now that we have established that area of droppage we have to go through the amount of time allowed for each area.

Assuming you have made it through the list and come to a determination you may eat it, STOP right there!!!. You have to consider how long it lay on the ground.

If you dropped it at home then as long as you do not lose eye contact with it you can eat it. If you drop it and it rolls under a stove or fridge then it is a gonner. If you drop it and leave the room then come back and notice it this still falls under the "lose eye contact" clause so it is no good. Otherwise if you watch it hit the ground, roll a little but then come to a rest you can still pick it up and eat it. Assuming it did not roll onto carpet. If it rolled onto carpet return to the list and start from 3.

If you dropped it in a common area then there are many things to consider here.

If dropped in a confined common area w/ hard floors then you may eat it if it is picked up before 5 seconds, any longer and you risk Cancer, Aids, and many other terrible things.(I'm kidding)

Now w/ all this considered there are still many variables. Dry foods, wet foods, outdoors. Most dry foods will not pick up hair and other particles and can easily be blown free of any germs so in some cases these are acceptable. Wet foods must follow the guidlines strictly. Outdoors is a whole other animal. Grass is clean, dirt isn't, driveways are cleaner than parking lots, etc. However these instances do not excuse the common rule of 5 in a common area. After 5 seconds in a common area you are risking your life with it.

Answer 2

I am with Maggie on this. I live in the States and am vegan (for five years now). Unfortunately I am allergic to soy, so I have had to go vegan without tofu or any processed soy products. I get my nutrition from a rotation diet of pasta, brown rice, beans/legumes (soybeans are not the only bean on the planet!), wheat/seiten/gluten, and a heavenly cashew cream sauce/nuts. I do believe all those are available in Bulgaria. I then add seasonal produce of fruits and vegetables (onions, garlic, and ginger are my spicy vegetables that I add to my food). My vegan daughter is at Cedar Point working for the summer and is doing alright on her limited budget and availability of produce too. She loves her rice cooker and curry powders! As a vegan bodybuilder, I do supplement with a brown rice protein powder in my morning oatmeal, but other than that, I get enough protein. You will find out that it is not getting the protein inside you by eating stuff, but digesting the protein once it is inside. (Ginger helps in digestion!).

Answer 3

Depends on what the food is and how dirty the floor is! Normally I follow the 5 second rule (just because several of us are fighting over it so it doesn't last longer than 5 seconds) but say it's soup, I don't want it. And nothing that falls on the bathroom floor of a gas station is going in my mouth!

Answer 4

What is this off-limits thing of which you speak? Heck, most of the food I eat grows up either on or under the ground anyway! And most of the rest comes from the sea, which we use as a giant sewer nowadays.

Answer 5

b 5 seconds

Answer 6

I don't follow any rules because it can vary on where you drop it. I mean, if you drop in it dirt or you drop it in sand, I doubt you'd want to eat it, even if it was only 1 second before you picked it up.

But if you drop something like a chip on clean wooden floor, then yeah, I think it's safe to bet that you can eat that.

Answer 7

A, anywhere but home or a friends house
Either of those two places
...Until the Dog gets it...My dog usually catches it before it hits the ground!!!

Answer 8

Depends on the type of food but usually d...whats wrong with food dropped on the groung?!.

Answer 9

5 secs

Answer 10

D... I always laugh when I hear people say "Ewww, that was on the floor." Vegetables grow in the dirt... duh...

[Hey, is that a piece of chicken the dog missed?]