A Vancouver man spent much of the B.C. Day long weekend in and out of hospital emergency rooms after a metal bristle from a barbecue brush became lodged in his throat.
Jordan Daniels said he bit into a burger while at a friend’s barbecue and felt a sharp pain.
“Something jabbed my throat and punctured it and this is what it was,” Daniels said, as he held a plastic bottle containing a stray wire from a brush that’s used to clean barbecues.
“It was so painful… I sprinted to the bathroom, put my finger in my throat to try and see what was in there to get it out and blood was coming up. I was spitting up blood.”
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An emergency room doctor told Daniels nothing showed up on X-ray on his first visit to hospital.
Daniels then made another visit to emergency and two trips to walk-in clinics. Still, no one could find the bristle.
“It was so frustrating… there’s metal in my mouth, someone needs to take it out and no one is believing me,” he said.
Daniels found relief on his third visit to an emergency room.
A doctor spotted the bristle, administered a numbing agent, took some long tweezers and pulled it out.
“It took two minutes,” Daniels said.
Last month, Health Canada said it is conducting an investigation into the safety of wire-bristle brushes used to clean barbecues.
The agency said it has received reports of nine injuries that have been attributed to the brushes since 2011.
Health Canada’s website warns that there is a risk of bristles becoming lodged in food and swallowed, especially with older brushes.
It advises people to throw brushes away if the bristles are loose.
READ MORE: Wire BBQ brushes pose hazard if not regularly replaced
Caren McSherry, president of cookware retailer Gourmet Warehouse, said there are many options for cleaning barbecues other than brushes with wire bristles.
“This is actually critical that you know this, that the bristles will come off on the grill piece and the next time you go to cook there is a chance it could get lodged into the food and consequently into your throat,” she said.
– With files from Lynn Colliar and The Canadian Press