When considering whether or not to eat something you've just picked up off the floor, one thing you should consider is your location. Dr. Maurizio Chiriva, a microbiologist at Texas Tech Medical Center, says the decision should be based on where you are.
Dr. Chiriva says that the five second rule depends on where you are located. In a hospital, he says that he would not pick up any item that fell on the floor, it could pick up a lot of germs. The type of food that falls on the floor should also be taken into consideration when thinking about eating it.
Dr. Chiriva says that a dry cookie would be okay, if you are in your home, but he does not recommend food such as pasta or soup be picked up off the floor and eaten.
Bacteria such as E. Coli, if it happens to be on the floor surface, can contaminate food immediately after it comes in contact with the floor. So, do you really want to roll the dice? The odds may not just be with you, if there's any moisture on the surface, there could be contamination with E. Coli and Salmonella.
Researchers at the University Of Illinois recently tested the five second theory in a laboratory, and they found that if they dropped food onto a surface which was contaminated with E-Coli then even when the food was picked up real quick, it was still contaminated with E-Coli.
Remember, next time, think about eating what you just dropped on the floor.