--- title: Science Confirms that Five-Second Rule for Dropped Food Is Real description: Students in the U.K. have found that food dropped on the floor for just five seconds contracts less bacteria than longer durations. canonical: https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/ author: Kyle Chayka article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-13T20:30:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:46.542Z og:title: Science Confirms the Five-Second Rule Is Actually a Real Thing og:description: It's still best to keep your food on your plate og:url: https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt781f5826860acc3d/698685653bc999643d1a2547/121111048.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Broken wineglass and food plate falling on table og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Science Confirms the Five-Second Rule Is Actually a Real Thing twitter:description: It's still best to keep your food on your plate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt781f5826860acc3d/698685653bc999643d1a2547/121111048.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Science Confirms the Five-Second Rule Is Actually a Real Thing by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka Mar 13, 2014 8:30 PM UTC  Broken wineglass and food plate falling on table Broken wineglass and food plate falling on tableGetty Images by [Kyle Chayka](https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/) ## Kyle Chayka Mar 13, 2014 8:30 PM UTC Research at the U.K.’s [Aston University](http://www.aston.ac.uk/about/news/releases/2014/march/five-second-food-rule-does-exist/) has confirmed the old adage that food dropped on the floor for five seconds is clean—or at least it’s less likely to be dirty than if it sits there. To test out the rule, students dropped toast, pasta, biscuits, and candy onto a floor that had been exposed to common bacteria and measured how much of the bacteria transferred when it was left on the surface for durations ranging from three to 30 seconds. The results found that food left on the floor for less time does indeed get exposed to less bacteria. But more importantly, the texture of the floor that food is dropped on to is the most significant factor in how much bacteria is transferred. Carpet is actually the cleanest surface to drop food onto, contrary to its connotations as a fibrous home for germs. It carries “the lowest risk of bacterial transfer onto dropped food,” Professor Anthony Hilton explains. Laminate and tiled floors are the worst offenders for dropped food infection. That said, we’re not taking any chances. ([h/t Geekosystem](http://www.geekosystem.com/5-second-rule/)) Science Confirms that Five-Second Rule for Dropped Food Is Real ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/"},"headline":"Science Confirms the Five-Second Rule Is Actually a Real Thing","datePublished":"2014-03-13T20:30:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:46.542Z","description":"It's still best to keep your food on your plate","url":"https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food","Science topic","Bacteria","Germs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt781f5826860acc3d/698685653bc999643d1a2547/121111048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kyle Chayka","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kyle-chayka/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt781f5826860acc3d/698685653bc999643d1a2547/121111048.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Broken wineglass and food plate falling on table","caption":"Broken wineglass and food plate falling on table","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/23513/the-five-second-rule-is-real-and-works-best-on-carpet/","name":"Science Confirms the Five-Second Rule Is Actually a Real Thing"}}]}] ```