Beth DiCocco: What can happen in 5 seconds?

In laboratories across the country, scientists are conducting research in an attempt to cure cancer or stop global warming. At the same time, others are working on arguably less significant, but far more entertaining projects.

For example, the ongoing investigation into the 5-second rule.

According to the old wives tale, you have 5 seconds to retrieve dropped food before it becomes a germ-infested time bomb you don’t dare put in your mouth.

And as with any advice from these unreliable old bats, you might want a scientist to check it out before you follow it.

Fortunately, several scientists are happy to do just that.

The latest report I read about, which appears in the July issue of National Geographic, says it should be the zero-second rule. That’s right. If you drop it, toss it.

Food scientist Paul Dawson and his students at Clemson University say salmonella and other bacteria can live up to four weeks on dry surfaces and be immediately transferred to food.

However, an earlier study conducted by students at Connecticut College found that you have at least a minute, and as long as 5 minutes in the case of Skittles, before your food is crawling with cooties. They dropped apple slices and Skittles on the dining hall/snack bar floor to see how long it took them to turn nasty.

So, where does this leave those of us who fumble with our food?

For me, time isn’t the only – or even most important – factor in whether or not I eat something that’s dropped from my fork or fingers.

There are a lot of things to consider:

- How hungry am I? Sometimes I’m saved from myself by dropping that 47th cookie; other times, I’m starved, and I’m just going close my eyes and eat it.

- How much is left? If there’s a whole block of cheese, I’ll probably let it go. If that was the last Lindt chocolate truffle, I’m eating it.

- Is there dirt, hair or whatever stuck on it? A food’s adhesive properties matter. Some stuff just can’t be saved, even if there are no germs on it. That said, if you’re near the sink, a quick rinse will get all the visible crud. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s clean.

- How far am I from the food source? If I’m on the couch in the middle of a good NYC Housewives’ cat fight (yes, I watch that; I do it because it makes me feel relatively smart and sane, if very poor), I’m going to dust it off and move on.

- How many other people traverse this surface? Stuff dropped at LAX? No way. Stuff that falls in the office cafeteria floor? Probably not. Something dropped on my own kitchen? Most likely.

Dr. Harley Rotbart, professor of microbiology and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told the Chicago Tribune that food science is a lot like real estate: It’s location, location, location.

The bathroom is a zero-second rule area, he says. This begs the question: Who eats in the bathroom? But that’s one I’m going to leave to some team of intrepid scientists.

Anyway, Rotbart (a great name for someone who studies infectious disease) says that you’re better off eating something off the sidewalk – the Tribune used the example of giving a dropped bagel back to a screaming child – than your kitchen floor, “where uncooked meat and chicken juices are more hazardous than the ‘soil’ bacteria outside.”

Regarding that screaming kid, I wholeheartedly agree. The very real risks posed by a toddler having a tantrum far outweigh the slim possibility of food poisoning.

Still, personally, I am more unnerved by strangers’ germs than my own, so I’m going to work hard to forget this new info about my kitchen floor.

- And finally, the big question, did anyone else see it? If you think your dinner date, co-worker, the other moms at dance class, or even random strangers are going to be grossed out, you’re going to pass – no matter how badly you want it. If you’re alone, anything goes. Julia Child always comforted clumsy cooks by saying “remember, you’re alone in your kitchen.” I love and admire Julia (just a friendly warning to those who dine at my home).

As far as I know, I’ve never been made ill by something consumed under the erstwhile 5-second rule, so I’m prepared to continue along despite Dawson’s research. But it’s good to know that someone is doing due diligence on this issue.

It makes me wonder, though, are we really firm on the whole expiration date thing?

Beth DiCocco writes for the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.