Editing Five-second rule (section)

=== Rutgers University ===
Researchers at [[Rutgers University]] debunked the theory in 2016 by dropping watermelon cubes, gummy candies, plain white bread, and buttered bread from a height of {{convert|5|in|cm|spell=in}} onto surfaces slathered in ''[[Enterobacter aerogenes]]''. The surfaces used were carpet, ceramic tile, stainless steel and wood. The food was left on the surface for intervals of 5, 30 and 300 seconds. The scientists assessed the amount of ''E. aerogenes'' transferred between surface and food. Since bacteria tended to be attracted to moisture, wet food had more risk to have bacteria transferred than dry food. To the surprise of the researchers, carpet transferred fewer bacteria than steel or tile. Wood was hard to pin down as it showed a large variation. "The five-second rule is a significant [[oversimplification]] of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food," Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University biologist and an author of the research, stated in the ''Washington Post'', "Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guarino |first=Ben |date=September 13, 2016 |title=The 'five-second rule' for eating food? Scientists just demonstrated how gross it is. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/13/the-five-second-rule-for-eating-food-scientists-just-demonstrated-how-gross-it-is/ |access-date=July 10, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

A pediatrician criticized the study for discounting the danger in consuming food after one touches other surfaces like refrigerator handles, light switches, and wallets, which have been found to be similarly contaminated with bacteria.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carroll |first=Aaron E. |author-link=Aaron Carroll |date=October 10, 2016 |title=I'm a Doctor. If I Drop Food on the Kitchen Floor, I Still Eat It. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/upshot/im-a-doctor-if-i-drop-food-on-the-kitchen-floor-i-still-eat-it.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010110551/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/upshot/im-a-doctor-if-i-drop-food-on-the-kitchen-floor-i-still-eat-it.html |archive-date=October 10, 2016 |access-date=July 10, 2024 |website=[[The Upshot]] |publisher=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>