Curious Cook in the New York Times: The five-second rule

My column in today's New York Times food section is about the five-second rule, the idea that if you drop a piece of food on the floor but pick it up quickly, it will still be safe to eat.

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Dawson, P. et al. Residence time and food contact time effects on transfer of Salmonella typhimurium from tile, wood, and carpet: testing the five-second rule. Journal of Applied Microbiology 2007, 102, 945-53.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.03171.x