Rethinking the "Rules" of Parenting

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

Are you a staunch advocate of the "five-second rule?" Do you teach your kids that it is a no-no to double dip?

In a previous blog I discussed the merits of letting things slide in an attempt to preserve one's sanity as a parent. What I failed to mention is that sometimes when we tweak the rules we do our children a disservice.

Case in point: The "five-second rule," as it applies to food dropped on the floor.

As a young mother I was a fervent follower of the "five-second rule." I would never dream of allowing my precious baby to munch on a Cheerios that tumbled off her chin onto foreign flooring. However, as the years progressed I began easing my tight grasp on the "five-second rule." It wasn't long before my daughter was free to consume fallen chips, crackers and grapes that made the leap from her chubby little hands onto grass, sidewalks and sand. A quick wipe of the errant food item and it was in my daughter's mouth.

Sure, I cared about her health, but there was something quite liberating about not fussing over fallen food.

Well, liberation be gone, because after reading a recent study by a Clemson University food scientist, I'm reverting back to my old ways. According to Dr. Paul Dawson, parents shouldn't even follow a "one-second rule" when it comes to fallen food. Dawson's research found that the transfer of bacteria from a contaminated surface to food is "almost instantaneous" or, at the very least, a lot quicker than a normal parent's reflexes.

Dawson's recent study tested a variety of Salmonella contaminated surfaces, including ceramic tile, wood flooring, and carpet. Dawson's research team dropped pieces of bologna and slices of bread on each of the contaminated surfaces for as little as five seconds and as long as 60 seconds. According to the results, after just five seconds on the dirty surfaces, both food types picked up as many as 1,800 bacteria; after a full minute, the number of bacteria increased to 10 times that amount.

Sick.

Seriously, just reading Dawson's research made me ill. And that's only half of it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses reported annually in the United States. Translation: Unless you're sterilizing your kitchen floors (not to mention your vehicle's floors, the floors at your local McDonald's, the sidewalk in front of your home, and wherever else your kid eats) on an hourly basis, you should refrain from eating dropped food.

"Let's not forget what comes into contact with floors--people bring animal feces on their shoes into their homes," Dawson reminds parents.

Thanks doc.

Food for thought the next time you give your kid the okay to chow down on that dropped cookie.

Do you follow the "five-second rule?"

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Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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