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Subscribe to RSSBefore you throw that burger on the grill this July 4 holiday, you might want to check the grill surface for some not-so-edible objects.
In recent years, there have been several documented cases of people who ended up in the emergency room after ingesting wires that detached from grill-cleaning brushes, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report describes six such cases that occurred between March 2011 and June 2012. The patients, all treated at the same Rhode Island hospital, ranged in age from 31 to 64, and their injuries included a puncture of the soft tissues of the neck, which caused severe pain on swallowing, and perforation of the gastrointestinal tract, which required emergency abdominal surgery. All six patients fully recovered after treatment
"With the summer grilling season under way, broad awareness of the risk will help" in quickly and correctly diagnosing this injury, the CDC said. Diagnosis can be difficult because the bristles from grill-cleaning brushes are small, and can be quite difficult to see on imaging scans.
"Additionally, public awareness might result in careful examination of any grill surface before use, or use of alternative grill-cleaning methods or products," the CDC said.
Details about the types and brands of grill-cleaning brushes that injured the patients in the report were not available, so the CDC said it cannot make recommendations regarding which brands might be safer to use. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is currently reviewing information on the topic to see if product defects can be identified in grill-cleaning brushes that could pose an unreasonable risk for injury, the CDC said.
The new report, published Tuesday in the CDC's weekly report on death and illness, was written by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital. It is the second such report to come from that hospital system — the first described six cases that occurred between July 2009 and November 2010.
Together, the reports suggest that "such incidents might be more common than previously suspected," the CDC said.
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6 cases in 15 months. Enough said. Slow news day?
6 cases in 15 months in the same hospital!
I had the same reaction as you initially, but then I saw the thing about it being in from the same hospital.
Probably still a slow news day even so...
Slow news reading day? You two counted up the months ? Did you count up the months from the first report too? I found it interesting that the first report included exactly six cases too..
Right,foil works good too....Just please don't cook on it...You might as well just cook in the oven...Some people don't like their food touching the grill...I tell them too bad don't eat then...It's not barbecue if it doesn't touch the grilling surface...Y'know..
I feel the same about gas grills. Figured may as well use the gas stove.
Only in Rhode Island ? NO other cases in the rest of the country ? It must be the local Dollar General cheap arse wire brushes....I use a wet paper towel .....I would rather have a piece of paper towel than wire brush in my food....If it is real dirty and requires excessive scrubbing I use and old mismatch sock or T-shirt....If you use a wire brush you are just destroying your grill anyway,plus obviously your insides if you are stupid....
Can you say "made in china?" ..... Sure, I knew you could ......
I knew you could but it is not politically correct to.
Try an onion half to clean your grill while the grill is hot. It breaks down the grease and gives the meat a wonderfull flavour!!
Thank you for that info.
This happened to one of my students this past spring (not in RI). He ended up with a bristle stuck in the back of his throat like a splinter.
If you knew what was in the mystery meat from the hamburger franchises, you wouldn't eat it. Six people hospitalized, go find out how many have been hospitalized eating at the fast food joints.
This is a slow news day if this is all they have to offer.
Purple Power degreaser and Brillo pad. Rinse thoroughly with water. Done.
BTW: Any grill fueled by gas isn't a grill. It's simply a stove top with a cover.
I use a wire brush, too, but I then wash the grid with soap and water to finish it off, then a top coat of olive oil (any oil works, but when I did it this week, olive was all I had).
Never had a problem with wire bristles in my food.
On the subject of fuel, hardwood charcoal and hickory chunks does the trick for me. It's worth the wait.
i just turn the grill on high for a bit while preparing everything else.. Baked white grill with all the grease and carbon burned off. I just give it a quick wipe with paper towel and corn oil and its ready to go. Let the heat do the work of clean up.