I have seen this type of experiment done several times before by scientists. They always use untreated surfaces using only the microorganisms already present (such as a kitchen floor or a public sidewalk), or they use the types of microorganisms you would most likely find on the surfaces, in the amounts that would be there in real life situations. They all stated that the amount of time time food is in contact with the surface does indeed affect how many germs get on the food. They also stated that all contact which was 5 second or shorter was not long enough for harmful amounts to be transferred, although longer exposure or repeated consumption of contaminated food in a short amount of time could lead to a build-up of harmful amounts. Even on a sidewalk which was found to contain Salmonella & E-Coli, there was not enough of either within the 5 second exposure to cause any harm or illness to a normally healthy person. I don't feel the experiment in this article is valid since we don't know how much was used to contaminate the area, which could have been more than what would be there in real life situations, and we don't know how much was transferred to the food or if any measurements were even taken. The whole thing seems unscientific and poorly executed.
I have seen this type of experiment done several times before by scientists. They always use untreated surfaces using only the microorganisms already present (such as a kitchen floor or a public sidewalk), or they use the types of microorganisms you would most likely find on the surfaces, in the amounts that would be there in real life situations. They all stated that the amount of time time food is in contact with the surface does indeed affect how many germs get on the food. They also stated that all contact which was 5 second or shorter was not long enough for harmful amounts to be transferred, although longer exposure or repeated consumption of contaminated food in a short amount of time could lead to a build-up of harmful amounts. Even on a sidewalk which was found to contain Salmonella & E-Coli, there was not enough of either within the 5 second exposure to cause any harm or illness to a normally healthy person. I don't feel the experiment in this article is valid since we don't know how much was used to contaminate the area, which could have been more than what would be there in real life situations, and we don't know how much was transferred to the food or if any measurements were even taken. The whole thing seems unscientific and poorly executed.