As temperatures continue to soar across the UK, an emergency department doctor has warned against one popular barbecue tool that could cause life-threatening injuries.
Barbecue brushes are designed to clean your grill with ease after every use, but the wire bristles can actually be a serious health hazard.
The cleaning bristles can break off, remain hidden on the grill grate, and end up in the food you’re cooking. If accidentally eaten, they can potentially lodge in your throat, stomach or intestines and lead to major damage.
Paediatric emergency medicine physician, Dr Beachgem, has spoken out about one of “the most interesting” cases she has had to date where a four-year-old boy had a wire from a brush lodged in his throat.
The young child was taken to the emergency room after suddenly grabbing his ear and crying in pain whilst eating at a BBQ.
After having an ear test that looked completely normal, his parents were told to give him ibuprofen and to visit an ear, nose and throat specialist in a couple of days.
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Speaking on TikTok, Dr Beachgem said: “A couple of days later went and saw ENT, they did a full exam and again there's nothing, totally normal exam.”
The child continued to have ibuprofen and numbing drops in his ears - but the pain was not subsiding - so they decided to visit the emergency room again.
A CAT scan of the mastoid was carried out, which still looked completely normal, and the parents were told to follow up with the paediatrician and ENT in a couple of days.
After nearly 10 days of tests and scans, the boy was taken to the emergency room at 4:30 in the morning where he saw Dr Beachgem.
She said: “Now he's having some fevers and he's not wanting to eat and drink and we have no idea what's going on with him.
“His ear exam was totally normal and he was still complaining of ear pain. On the throat exam he did have a little bit of swelling in the kind of tonsil or area on the right side and a little bit of tenderness on the neck on the right side also.”
The doctor said they did “a ton of labs” and “every test they could think of doing” before a CAT scan revealed the problem.
“He had about a 2cm metal wire that was lodged in the paratonsillar tissues on the right and it had started to develop an abscess around it,” she said.
“He had been eating a hamburger when this happened so the grill brush, the metal wires on the grill brush, had become lodged in the hamburger and when he ate the hamburger it got lodged in the soft tissues.”
The doctor explained the boy was feeling pain in his ear because the wire and the abscess was near the Eustachian tube, which is a small passageway that connects your throat to your middle ear.
The child was taken to the operating room with ear, nose and throat surgeons, who were able to remove the wire and his abscess was drained.
She added: “He was started on some antibiotics and his pain was completely resolved…but do not use grill brushes with metal wires.”
Dr Beachgem highlighted that not only can the wire get lodged in the soft tissues in your throat, but they can also cause bowel obstructions and perforations in the abdomen if accidentally swallowed.
Another incident saw Cheryl Harrison undergo emergency surgery to remove an inch-long piece of metal from her intestine after eating a hamburger.
The woman from Connecticut felt sharp pains just two days after grilling at home, she added: "It was just a pain that I have never felt before.
"I felt my stomach was bloated… extremely tender to the touch."
Her partner had cleaned their grill with a wire brush before cooking, and Harrison has unknowingly ingested a bristle in her burger.
How to clean your BBQ without a wire brush
According to Sharon Franke, director of the Kitchen Appliances and Technology Lab in the Good Housekeeping Institute, there are a number of safe ways to clean your grill.
She said: "We recommend using coil brushes that do not have bristles.”
Another way to scrape away the grime is by using crumpled aluminium foil, which you can easily hold using a pair of tongs. This can leave small bits behind, so once finished, let the grill cool and use a wet cloth to wipe away the debris.
Make the most of your leftovers and use an onion to help you clear away any food remains on your BBQ.
To do this, cut an onion in half and put it on a grill fork, cut side down. Wipe the onion on the grill grates to loosen any stuck-on bits of food.
