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"You&amp;#039;ve buttered your toast, you&amp;#039;ve poured your coffee and \u2013 just as you&amp;#039;re transferring the toast to the plate \u2013 your littlest one screams something about the dog and her breakfast cereal. Before you know it, the tot is sobbing, the dog is enjoying a bonanza, and you&amp;#039;re picking up your toast (buttered side down, of course) from the floor. Thank heaven for the five second rule, right? Well\u2026 yeah. About that   rule: It would appear that Paul Dawson, the scientist who reassured us a few years ago that it took at least a few seconds for germs to adhere to whatever food items we dropped to the floor might have had that one wrong. According to this month&amp;#039;s National Geographic, it turns out Dawson has continued studying the matter and has revised the five second rule to \u2013 um, put your toast down \u2013 the Zero Second Rule (There&amp;#039;s a great blog piece about the challenge of trying to illustrate that particular article, too).  According to National Geographic, &amp;quot;his research discovered that salmonella and other bacteria can survive up to four weeks on a dry surface and transfer to food immediately upon contact.&amp;quot;  Bummer. Other findings are just as disappointing. It turns out the rim of the cup you&amp;#039;ve been sharing with your BFF can hold 10,000 bacteria and, while double dippers are rightfully disdained in public, there&amp;#039;s even more reason to worry if they&amp;#039;re double-dipping their tortilla chips in runny salsa as opposed to, say, a thick guacamole: &amp;quot;runny salsa totes more germs back and forth&amp;quot; than their thicker counterparts. Finally \u2013 and you knew this already \u2013 chopsticks and other eating utensils are very effective forms of public transportation for bacteria.  That cereal bowl Rover&amp;#039;s enjoying seems more and more attractive by the minute. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a38195/is-the-five-second-rule-really-true/>