BBQ brush, did you know this?

[ZR]

A Toronto-area mother is demanding that wire-bristled barbecue brushes be banned, after a bite of a burger landed her six-year-old son in the hospital with a tiny wire from their barbecue brush lodged inside him.
It was just another summer night for the Fiore family, who decided to have burgers on the grill for supper. But what happened to the little boy next was anything but normal.
Anthony Fiore took the first bite of his burger and immediately had a bizarre reaction.
"It felt like a needle," Anthony said.
The six-year-old's parents came forward about their ordeal to CBC News after Canadian surgeons urged people on Wednesday to throw out their wire-bristled brushes because the bristles can become stuck to barbecue grills and cling to food without being noticed. They haven't determined a way of removing the thin, sharp wires from people's throats when they're swallowed.


Canadian surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/barbecue-brushes-dangers-swallow-throat-wire-bristle-dempsey-1.3741578)

"We knew something was wrong and he was in extreme pain because he was crying," Anthony's mother Nadia said.
"From the time we had dinner to the time we had surgery it was about 12 hours later because our journey started at the local hospital and then we were transported to Sick Kids," she said.
Stories as old as barbecue brushes themselves

Surgeons have been dealing with an influx of patients needing emergency surgery to remove bristles lodged in throats and haven't quite figured out a "surefire" way of removing them, a Nova Scotia otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat specialist) told CBC News on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, CBC News reported on a Halifax woman who had a bristle lodged so far down her throat that surgeons couldn't reach it. It's still there.
An initial x-ray on Anthony showed a tiny bristle from the brush lodged inside his throat. Doctors told his mother they have seen this before and to ditch the brush.

http://www.campingaz.com/sk/images/Product/medium/23789.jpg

[The Newmare]

seen this on many occasions best to use the soft scrubbies.

[baddbullitt]

Yeah Joanna was telling me about this last night.. Those bristles go somewhere when they're no longer on the brush!!

[ZR]

I wonder if that means it stuck to the grill or peeps are brushing the grill while cooking?

[03svt]

Wonder if it's people buying low quality dollar store brushes thinking they will do the job? this does have me second guessing mine though.

[baddbullitt]

I wonder if that means it stuck to the grill or peeps are brushing the grill while cooking?

Maybe they're brushing the meat in hopes it tenderizes it better?? lol

[Snaketamer]

Haven't used the plastic bbq brushes in years...like the weber style brush. They don't seem to lose the bristles like the others.

http://cdn.shocho.co/sc-image/7/5/5/1/7551a4d1ace6999bab30bffe4777c615.jpg

[ZR]

^ Good info, thanks.

[03svt]

Haven't used the plastic bbq brushes in years...like the weber style brush. They don't seem to lose the bristles like the others.

http://cdn.shocho.co/sc-image/7/5/5/1/7551a4d1ace6999bab30bffe4777c615.jpg

I use a Weber brush too.

[RedSN]

Wonder if it's people buying low quality dollar store brushes thinking they will do the job?
100% this.

[92redragtop]

I have been careful with these brushes for about 5 years and spend about 5 mins inspecting the grill after I use these brushes. I do always find individual bristles left behind (tiny bristles stuck on grill) and it doesn't matter if it's a $30 brush or a $8 brush, they all shed bristles from my experience. I try to use the pads and soft bristles as much as possible but sometimes I have to pull out the brush with the metal bristles to clean the grill (which i do replace regularly since the ones I get have the replaceable brush pads).

[Hckynut]

We stopped using these brushes because of this issue, now we turn the Bbq on for a few minutes to warm the grill up and with a few shop towels folded over we spray some cooking oil on them and wipe the grill down. Works well for us!

[cf105arrow]

Doesn't a grill have to be pretty dirty in order for a bristle to stick to it? I scrub mine every time I use it. There is nothing a bristle could stick to unless it's building up a charge and is magnetized to the grill. In all the years I have barbequed I have never seen a bristle on or in the bbq. Feel bad for the kid though. How is it that with all the advances in medicine they can't do something as simple as remove a small piece of metal from the throat?

[Old Fart]

Doesn't a grill have to be pretty dirty in order for a bristle to stick to it? I scrub mine every time I use it. There is nothing a bristle could stick to unless it's building up a charge and is magnetized to the grill. In all the years I have barbequed I have never seen a bristle on or in the bbq.

Same here. I don't use a brush that has plastic holding the bristles.

[92redragtop]

Doesn't a grill have to be pretty dirty in order for a bristle to stick to it? I scrub mine every time I use it. There is nothing a bristle could stick to unless it's building up a charge and is magnetized to the grill. In all the years I have barbequed I have never seen a bristle on or in the bbq. Feel bad for the kid though. How is it that with all the advances in medicine they can't do something as simple as remove a small piece of metal from the throat?

With our grill the bristles stick to the oily residue on the grill even after all food particles have been removed. Only way I've been able to get that off completely is by removing and soaking/scrubbing in dish soap. The larger grills (our 3 grill plates are porcelain coated cast iron versus the thinner wire grills on some BBQs) are more prone to this versus the thin wire grills which have less surface area for the bristles to attach to.

[Screw]

Haven't used the plastic bbq brushes in years...like the weber style brush. They don't seem to lose the bristles like the others.

http://cdn.shocho.co/sc-image/7/5/5/1/7551a4d1ace6999bab30bffe4777c615.jpg
So these are good to go ?

[stangstevers]

People clean BBQ's?

[Snaketamer]

So these are good to go ?

I'm happy with the Weber brushes...however, I also keep my grills clean. Not sure if being stainless steel helps in keeping them clean also. Another product I use is a Cookina...works wonders, speacially with ribs or chicken. Still get grill marks and can candy the sauces up nicely.
http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2015/05/cookina-barbecue-reusable-grilling-sheets1.jpg?quality=55&strip=all

[Ponyryd]

Never heard of this, thanks for the info.

[Screw]

Just bbq'd chicken & cleaned it with the only thing I had... a wire brush ... fug
Agenda ..Home Depot maybe I'll try one of those stone things

[tulowd]

The other thing I worry about is the plastic touching the hot grates or edge - that's why the standard Weber brush is wooden. Anyone who cleans their grille properly should realize that the bristles do fall out, especially when scrubbing. I have never seen them remain on the grates if cleaned properly.

Went from the cast iron to the larger 9mm dia stainless this summer - way better and easier to clean.

Sad to hear about the kid and others with the lodged bristle issue; but my feeling is this is more societal ballwashing and nannystate legislation rather than a real issue. Common sense and proper cleaning of food preparation surfaces is not rocket science, unless you don't clean your frying pan and wonder why your eggs taste like last weeks salmon.