"Many of us will happily eat a gummy bear or cookie after it falls on the floor, as long as we snatch it up quickly. Say, five seconds or less, right?"

"Well, science just gave us another excuse to continue this food-saving habit, especially when it comes to carpet-dusted snacks."

"Biology students at the Aston University in Birmingham, U.K., measured how quickly two common bacteria hop aboard foods dropped on tiles, linoleum and carpet."

"Their findings support the idea that there really is such a thing as the five-second rule for moist snacks, such as wet pasta and sticky gummy bears."