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"We&amp;#x27;ve all done it: Dropped something totally delicious off our plates and considered eating it as long as we&amp;#x27;ve scooped it off the ground in five seconds or less, and as long as the ground it landed on isn&amp;#x27;t too questionable. But wait, researchers have a warning for us... Maybe it&amp;#x27;s a hot dog that rolled off your plate at a barbecue, or the ice cream sandwich that dropped on the grass briefly. Should you brush it off and eat up, or toss? Turns out the good &amp;#x27;ol &amp;quot;5 second rule&amp;quot; isn&amp;#x27;t something you want to abide by, say experts. Researchers at Loyola University say that as soon as food makes contact with the ground, it&amp;#x27;s immediately contaminated with all kinds of microbes, some of which could be illness-causing. And, there&amp;#x27;s really no way to clean food once it&amp;#x27;s been contaminated--without re-cooking--so it&amp;#x27;s better to make your new rule, &amp;quot;if in doubt, throw it out.&amp;quot; Do you use the 5-second rule in your life or tend to be more careful about food safety? P.S. What weird foods do you eat when you&amp;#x27;re alone? And, guess the germiest place in a hotel room--it&amp;#x27;s not what you think! Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2012/07/health-germs-so-is-there-reall>