5秒钟原则，吃了还是丢掉？
Fact or Fiction?: The 5-Second Rule for Dropped Food
There may be some actual science behind this popular deadline for retrieving(挽回，回收) grounded goodies
关于流行的五秒定律，背后可能有科学依据。
You’re about to savor your first bite from a delicious candy apple(蘸糖的苹果) when, just as your teeth are about to sink in, the fruit–candy combo slips from its stick and plummets(垂直落下) to the ground. The clock is ticking(滴答). You quickly snatch(夺取) the fallen morsel (小块的美味食物), well within five seconds—the acknowledged time limit for determining whether dropped food should end up in your mouth or in the trash.
当你准备咬一口糖苹果的时候，准备合上牙齿，糖果从棍子上滑落落在地上。时间开始计时。你赶紧在五秒钟之内捡起掉下去的糖果 -五秒钟原则决定糖果最终应该到你的嘴里还是被丢在垃圾桶里。
What happens next is generally a judgment call depending on several factors—what was dropped, where it was dropped and the victim’s level of hunger. What to do could also pivot(在枢轴上转动；随…转移) on whether or not the most recent health column you read covering this topic on the Web said that you could get away with putting the dropped food in your mouth without a trip to the emergency room. A lot of research—and common sense, really—might indicate that any dropped food carries a risk of collecting bacteria. So the only real questions might be how great the risk is and whether it’s worth taking.
接下来发生的事情通常取决于一个友多方面因素决定的判断，掉落的东西是什么，掉在哪里，以及这个可怜的人的饥饿程度。怎么处理可能也取决于网络上你最近阅读的健康专栏涉及到这个问题的观点，“你可以直接把食物扔掉，而不是放在嘴里，这样就不用去一趟急诊室了”。大量的研究和常识，真的都告诉我们任何掉落的食物都有携带细菌的风险。所以，唯一的真正的问题可能是：风险有多大，是否值得你去冒这个风险。
Food retrieved just a few seconds after being dropped is less likely to contain bacteria than if it is left for longer periods of time, researchers at Aston University’s School of Life and Health Sciences in England recently reported. The Aston team also noted that the type of surface on which the food has been dropped has an effect, with bacteria least likely to transfer from carpeted surfaces. Bacteria is much more likely to linger(徘徊) if moist foods make contact for more than five seconds with wood laminate or tiled(铺瓷砖的) surfaces.
阿斯顿大学的生命与健康学院的研究人员表示, 在几秒钟之内捡回来的食物比掉了很长时间才捡回来的食物含有细菌的可能性要小。阿斯顿研究人员还指出，细菌多少和掉落的地面的类型有关系，比如掉在地毯上的食物沾上细菌的可能性要小。如果湿润的食物掉在复合木地板或瓷砖上超过五秒钟，沾上细菌的可能非常大。
The current study, undertaken(从事) by six final-year biology students led by Aston microbiology professor Anthony Hilton, is likely to only inflame(激起) an ongoing debate about this informal rule of food safety, as other studies have found that pathogens(病原体) transfer themselves to food as soon as that piece of meat or candy hits the kitchen tiles.
这项由微生物教授 Anthony Hilton 带领六名最后一年生物学生进行的研究，引起了关于食物安全性，五秒钟规则的热烈讨论，因为其他研究发现，当肉或者糖果掉落厨房瓷砖的瞬间，病菌就会沾上食物。
The researchers found that the initial impact immediately transferred at least a small proportion of bacteria resident on a floor to just about any type of food. Moist foods left longer than 30 seconds, however, contained up to 10 times more bacteria than food picked up after three seconds. “We believe that additional contact is being made between the moist food and the floor as it settles further onto the floor,” Hilton says. Dry foods dropped on the carpet experienced the slowest rate of bacterial migration(迁移).
研究人员发现，无论什么样的食物，最初的地面接触，至少会把小部分的细菌转移到食物上。但是对于湿润的食物，30秒钟捡起来的食物，比3秒钟捡起来的食物，细菌多10倍。Hilton 说：“我们认为这主要是由于湿润的食物在地面上慢慢的接触面变大引起的”。相比而言，细菌转移到，掉在地毯上的干燥食物的速度是最慢的。
The Clemson researchers found that Salmonella typhimurium “can be transferred to the foods tested almost immediately on contact” and that the bacteria can survive for up to four weeks on dry surfaces in high-enough populations to be transferred to foods.
Clemson 研究人员发现，鼠伤寒沙门氏菌可以立即转移到与它们接触的食物上，浓度高到可以转移到食物上的细菌群可以存活高达四周。
Most studies, it would seem, discourage adherence(坚持) to the five-second rule. So, even though Aston’s findings suggest that allowing dropped food to linger on the floor certainly increases the risk of bacterial transfer to that fallen indulgence(嗜好), it’s better to think twice before eating anything that touches an unsavory(难吃的) surface—whether it’s your kitchen floor or your favorite diner.
大多数研究，反对坚持五秒规则。所以，尽管Aston的研究结果表明，让掉在地上的美味在地上呆的时间越长细菌转移的概率越大。但是，不管食物是掉在自己家厨房的地板上，还是你最喜欢的餐厅的地上，或是其他令人反胃的地面上，当你在吃它们之前，最好还是认真想想。
from:scientific america
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