Among the many myths that exist about food is the so-called “The three-second rule”Which confirms that if food that falls on the ground is picked up in less than that time, it will not be contaminated. However, biochemistry Teresa Hernandez He dismantles this belief by demonstrating a simple experiment performed in a laboratory.
“Let’s check “Whether the three-second rule is a myth or whether it has some reality,” says Arnandes, who posts content on social media under the name @ladyscienceofficial.
In an Instagram post, the biochemist revealed a video Two plots are analyzed From the same food: one fell to the ground and the other did not. Both are arranged in two petri dishes with agar, a vegetable gelatin, to better confirm the results under a microscope.
“After leaving them Incubation at 37 degreesWe can see that what fell to the ground is taking shape A large number of bacterial colonies“, he explains in the background, while you can see images of the completely contaminated Petri dish.
On the other hand, the scientist adds, “Whoever does not fall to the ground It barely contains pollution bacterial”.
“Now you know it Whatever falls on the ground cannot be eaten“We have dismantled, thanks to science, a very widespread myth about which the US government had to speak out,” concludes Arnandez.
In the Q&A section of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), their answer is clear: “Throw away food that falls on the floor or comes into contact with dirty surfaces,” they stress. “There is no scientific evidence They added that this shows that food will not be contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites if it remains on the ground for less than five seconds.