Floor Food: How Long Is Too Long?
CSEF · 2019 Microbiology (General)
Overview
Objectives The objective of this project is to help you decide whether or not you want to continue eating food that has been on the floor for a period of time. Methods Our experiment took ham and laid it on the floor for different periods of time. We had one slice of meat not be exposed to the floor at all, one exposed for five seconds, one exposed for ten seconds, and one exposed for thirty seconds. After the varying periods of time, the meat was swabbed and put into a petri dish. After several days, bacteria colonies grew in the dishes, showing the results. Results The data averaged with no ground exposure having 3 bacterial colonies, five seconds with 4.5 colonies, ten seconds with 10 colonies, and thirty seconds with 63 colonies. Conclusions Our experiment proved that the more time food is exposed to a surface, the more bacteria is able to gather on it. Our experiment can help further develop understanding of bacteria transfer and how to lessen the transfer rate.
Summary statement
We proved that the longer food stays on the floor, the more bacteria gathers on it.
Help received
None. We performed the testing and analyzed the results ourselves.
Competition history
- CSEF 2019
Resources
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Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects