All kinds of germs live on floors. They travel on the bottom of shoes and drift down through the air. Most germs are either viruses or bacteria. Both of these kinds of germs can make you sick. Kitchen floors are often contaminated with bacteria from meat that hasn’t been cooked. Germs from bathrooms are easily tracked on shoes throughout houses. And every time someone sneezes, any virus the person may be carrying is sure to end up on the floor. In 2003 a high school student named Jillian Clarke did a study of the five-second rule. She sprayed a floor with E.coli (a bacterium that can be harmful to humans). Then she dropped gummy bears and cookies on the floor. Finally, she examined the candy and cookies under a microscope. She found that even before five seconds had passed, the candy and the cookies had picked up enough bacteria to make a person sick.

       Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to know if a floor is germy or not. Even the cleanest-looking floor can be covered with germs. So the best rule to follow is to not eat any food that has fallen on the floor. And if something like a fork or a baby’s pacifier drops on a floor, wash it off with hot, soapy water. Running something under tap water will not remove germs.