I Dropped My Donut – Do You Want It?
Can you imagine spending four years in undergraduate school and two or three more years to get a Ph.D. and then when your proud dad (who supported you all those years) asks, “What are you working on son?”
Your answer – “I’m conducting a study to see if you should eat food that you’ve dropped on the ground.” Now this is an Sheriff Andy Taylor moment if there ever was one. Andy could have told you in a heartbeat that you shouldn’t eat food that’s been on the ground. He wouldn’t need a Ph.D., and he wouldn’t have to conduct a long, controlled, double-blind, study. In fact, Andy wouldn’t have to study this one at all. In Mayberry, the answer to this question would be considered “obvious.”
Now I realize that a lot of people seem to believe that if you drop food on the floor and pick it up quick enough, it’s ok to eat, or at least that’s what their actions imply (Why am I thinking about Animal House?). Come on – you’ve seen other people drop food, pick it up, and eat it – not that “you” would ever do such a thing.
Anyway, back to the Ph.D. According to a study by Clemson University, thousands of bacteria could attach themselves to that dropped Dunkin’ Donut in under five seconds. Presumably, the longer it takes you to recover from the drop, the more bacteria you risk ingesting, but even if you catch it on the first bounce, there’s still a pretty fair risk it could make you sick.
So, think twice before you recover that errant food and put it in your mouth.
