Modern Australian

are the sniff test, the five-second rule and rare burgers safe?

  • Written by Cathy Moir, Team leader, Food microbiologist and Food safety specialist, CSIRO
are the sniff test, the five-second rule and rare burgers safe?If you drop your food, it's less about time spent on the floor and more about the surfaces. Mai Lam/The Conversation NY-BD-CC, CC BY-SA

There are many rules in food safety lore, some that have a basis in fact, and some that are purely grounded in convenience. But it’s important to look at the evidence to see which category common rules fall...