No reflex fast enough to save food from five-second rule (9/23/16)
Falling crude oil prices and disappointing data on U.S. manufacturing activity were the main contributors to today’s down market.
The Dow fell 131 points, with 24 of its components in the red; the S&P 500 Index lost 12; and the Nasdaq dropped 33. Decliners outpaced advancers by almost five to three on the NYSE and by nearly three to two on the Nasdaq. Treasury prices strengthened. Gold futures slumped $3 to close at $1,341.70 an ounce. Crude-oil futures tumbled $1.84 to settle at $44.48 a barrel after it was reported that Saudi Arabia doesn’t expect major oil producers to come to an agreement to freeze oil production at a meeting in Algiers next Monday.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.78%, the S&P 500 Index rose 1.20%, and the Nasdaq added 1.17%.
In other business news:
- On Thursday, Yahoo reported that it was the victim of a massive security breach by “state-sponsored” hackers in late 2014. No financial information was exposed; however, the stolen data included names, passwords, and other personal information. Up to 500 million users could be affected, making it the largest breach of a single website on record. Yahoo’s stock (YHOO) slipped 3.06%.
- Shares of Twitter (TWTR) jumped 21.42% after CNBC reported that the company is entertaining offers from a number of technology and media companies—including Salesforce.com and Google—and may receive a formal bid in the near future.
- Growth in the eurozone’s private sector is fading, according to the September reading of IHS Markit’s purchasing managers index (PMI). The latest flash composite PMI fell to a 20-month low of 52.6. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion in private-sector activity. Germany’s PMI fell to a 16-month low; however, France’s PMI surged to a 15-month high.
- A lack of new orders and the continued strength of the dollar hampered U.S. manufacturing activity in September. Markit’s flash U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped to 51.4 from 52, the lowest level in three months.
*****
The two rules that run our house:
1. Golden
2. Five second
But now we’ve been thrown into utter chaos by the latest revelation from Rutgers’ food microbiologist Donald W. Schaffner: The five-second rule is a myth.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
No one’s quite sure where the five-second rule originated, although some attribute it in some way to Genghis Khan, who said that food could stay on the ground for twelve hours and still be safe to eat. (I’m afraid that the two boys in my house have probably erred on the side of Khan-ness a time or two.)
When you drop a piece of food on the floor, you’re probably not doing a conscious risk/return analysis on what will happen if you pick it up and eat it. If the floor looks clean (i.e., you can’t see germs or dirt, so they obviously don’t exist) and you’ve never suffered negative consequences in the past, you’re more likely to brush it off and eat it.
But Professor Schaffner’s research just reiterated what we all know, deep down, to be true: “Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously.”
<Insert sad trombone sound here.>
So. You’ve dropped a piece of food on the floor. What do you do? Based on Professor Schaffner’s research, here are some things to keep in mind:
· In tests, carpet transferred the least amount of bacteria to the food, probably because the food is suspended on top of the fibers and bacteria sinks into the carpet. Stainless steel transferred the most.
· The composition of the food matters, too. For example, watermelon soaked up much more bacteria than a gummy bear.
· Who (or what) is walking on your floors?
· Time actually does matter. The longer something sits on the ground, the more bacteria it attracts (or the more likely it is a hungry beagle will snatch it up).
But probably the most important factor: What did you drop? Personally, my reflexes will be a lot faster if there’s a peanut M&M at stake versus a piece of broccoli.
