Some people live, reasonably healthily, by following the "five-second" rule. But Cameron Reddington (13) says it is not as hygienic as many think.
The King's High School pupil won a New Zealand Dairy Award at the Otago Aurora Science Fair in Dunedin this week for his research into the practice.
He dropped pieces of bread on a school desk, a corridor floor, a kitchen table and the school canteen counter for five seconds, before putting them on Agar plates in incubators to see if they would grow bacteria.
"I found that the five-second rule doesn't work, and that there was varying amounts of bacteria and fungi growing on the bread.
"I was surprised by it. I didn't think the bread was on the ground long enough to pick up any bacteria or fungi."
Cameron also put a piece of bread that had not been dropped, through the same process and found no bacteria or fungi grew on it.
He said the piece of bread he dropped in the school corridor grew the most fungi.
"It grew a huge big blob. That was gross.
"I'll think twice before I pick something up that I've dropped now."
Cameron's research project will be one of more than 100 projects by Otago school pupils which will receive awards at a ceremony at the St David Lecture Theatre in Dunedin tomorrow at 3pm.
Premier awards will be presented to. -
Best in fair, Meran Campbell-Hood (Dunedin North Intermediate) for (700) Thousand Points of Light; general excellence, Anne-Sophie Page (St Hilda's Collegiate) for Fast Food or Tasteful Dining and Georgia Walsh (Balmacewen Intermediate) for Clever Clothesline Cover; most promising young scientist, senior, Callum Macleod (Kavanagh College) for Multi-Tasking; junior, Connor Sutherland (Balmacewen Intermediate) for What Knot?; Division of Sciences, premier award, Rhian Gaffney (Logan Park High School) for What A Lot of Little Axolotl; gifted and talented pupils in years 7 & 8, Anna Cooper (Tahuna Intermediate) for Drill, Spill, Kill.
