Video Of McDonald's Worker Dropping Food On Floor Before Putting It Back On Tray Sparks Food Safety Debate

We've all heard of the "five-second rule," where when you drop a piece of food on a safe surface, you can still eat it if you've picked it back up within five seconds. Most people won't bat an eye at this when they're at home or with friends, again, if the food is dropped in a safe and clean location, like on a kitchen counter while making a plate.

But a floor really should never be included among the safe and clean surface options, especially when that floor is in a public space, and the five-second rule shouldn't even exist in food service spaces.

However, that seemed to be the exact rule that an employee had in place at a McDonald's in Calgary. While making up a tray of food, she dropped a few pieces on the floor, and instead of throwing the food away, she put it on the tray with the rest of the food and placed it on the serving rack, ready to go out to the customers.

The anonymous videographer was recording from behind a doorframe, peeking at the employee, and since the employee didn't hesitate to pick up the food, or even to check around her to see if anyone was looking, it seems this is a fairly normal practice for her, now with video evidence.

You can watch the video here:

Fellow X users were disgusted.

Anyone who has worked in a fast food restaurant knows that food gets dropped on the floor from time to time, and during rush periods, the floor might become filthy, because no one's had time to go around and clean all of the scraps and condiments that have been spilled.

To then pick that food up, knowing it's a public space, and that someone will be consuming it, is disturbing. Wasting food is something that should be avoided as much as possible, of course, but potentially sacrificing someone's safety to avoid wasting a little food is so much worse.