We Eat Food Off the Floor About Four Times Per Month
The average American eats food off the floor about FOUR times per month.
44% of people say they follow “the five-second rule,” so they’ll eat things off the ground as long as they’re able to pick it up immediately.
That’s a general rule, but the cleanliness of an area does come into play.
More than half say they’d EXTEND the five-second limit if it was a “clean” place, like their own home, a restaurant or “a hospital or medical facility.”
On the flip-side, there are places where people would NEVER consider eating off the floor, even after less than a second!
Those areas include: Bathrooms . . . public streets and sidewalks . . . and airports.
Pretty sure it also matters what kind of food it is, whether it’s something hard and dry or something wet and sticky. I mean, a potato chip is a lot different than a scoop of potato salad…
(OnePoll)
BONUS: Top Lies We Tell Ourselves to Feel Better about Eating Something off the Floor
- Dirt’s good for my immune system.
- It’s okay. My floors are spotless.
- I’m doing this to avoid food waste, not because I’m too lazy to walk to the trash.
- If hair wasn’t safe to eat, why does it grow above our mouth?
- Blowing on it is scientifically proven to remove all germs.
- Hey, vegetables grow in the ground and I eat tons of them.
- It’s not like the dog ever peed or pooped on this exact same spot.
- I’m sure all the bacteria on this Frito saw my hand coming and jumped off.
- My date won’t consider this a dealbreaker.
