Wire BBQ brushes pose hazard if not regularly replaced

Health officials are warning consumers to be on the lookout for worn-out wire barbecue brushes, noting the grill-scraping implements need to be replaced regularly.

Blair Thiessen of Winnipeg ended up in an emergency room after a wire from a bristle brush lodged in his tongue.

“I was eating dinner with my family, and the next thing you know something was stuck in my tongue, and it was scraping the inside of my mouth,” Thiessen said.

“It was a little bit frightening. I didn’t even really want to eat after that. I can’t even imagine if it was stuck in your throat, how that would be.”

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Thiessen said he was lucky and got the wire out with a pair of tweezers.

“Yes, we have encountered wire bristles in patients coming to the emergency department,” said Dr. Mark Barker, an ear, nose and throat surgeon with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Barker said in cases that send people to the emergency room, the wire usually lodges in the tonsils or lower part of the throat.

However, people with dentures are at a higher risk of getting a wire lodged and should be more careful, Barker warns.

Health Canada also warns people about metal bristles.

“Inspect your barbecue brush and the barbecue grill regularly,” the agency says on its website.

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“The metal bristles on the brush can become loose over time and stick to the grill. They can then get on food and accidentally swallowed. Throw your brush away if the bristles are loose.”

Luxe Barbeque Company manager Evan Fogg said moisture and grease wears away at the wood, causing the bristles to loosen.

“We probably get one person in here a week that knows somebody that has got a bristle in their food,” he said.

According to a University of Missouri School of Medicine study, 1,600 injuries from wire-bristle grill brushes were reported in emergency rooms between 2002 and 2014 in the United States.

Barbecue brush safety tips from Weber Grills

1. Inspect your grill brush for wear. If the bristles are worn down or clogged up with grease, throw it away and replace it.
2. If your grill brush head is split or warped, the bristles can come loose. Throw it away and replace it.
3. If your grill brush looks OK, you should perform a simple safety check: Take a pair of pliers and grab a bristle and pull using moderate pressure. If the bristle pulls loose, replace your brush.
4. Choose a brush with a long handle to keep hands and arms away from the grill.
5. A good quality brush has stainless-steel brushes that feel strongly anchored in the grill head or handle.

With files from Dani-Elle Dubé