There is a certain myth in the western society that food spilled on floor is best to eat if retrieved within 3 seconds. However in India the myth is that what falls on floor must be thrown out. Remember Mahabharatha Karna had squeezed the soil to retrieve oil and Mother Earth offended by the act curses the great warrior. But the fact is different myths are involved on food spilled on floor.
The myth was dispelled by the Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) who took the issue seriously and conducted experiments on the issue. The results show that foods with a high salt (Ham) or sugar content (Bread and Jam), When retrieved from the floor within three seconds, the foodstuffs showed little sign of bacterial growth. This was because there was less chance of harmful bacteria surviving on such items.
Other foods with watery content like dried fruit or cooked pasta showed signs of klebsiella after three seconds. This bacterium is responsible for the diseases like pneumonia, urinary tract infections, septicaemia and soft tissue conditions. However utterly dry items like biscuits remained unaffected even after ten seconds. (With Inputs from Internet- Aarkay)
