DO YOU FOLLOW THE 5-SECOND RULE? I’m sure you’ve heard of the 5-second rule: if you pick up dropped food within five seconds it’s okay to consume it.  As a kid, I certainly followed it—at home, at friends’ houses, even my school cafeteria. But now in my golden years, I’ve become rather germaphobic and toss anything I’ve dropped.  (Well, if it’s unpeeled like a banana or an orange, not so much.) In any case, I came across an October 12, 2024 online article in Consumer Reports by Pang-Chieh Ho, titled Does the 5-Second Rule Work?  Here are excerpts: It seems...