The number of incidents related to wire-bristle barbecue brushes reported to Health Canada more than doubled over the summer, while the regulator weighs what to do about the problem.

1nkblots:

allthecanadianpolitics:

I know this isn’t specific to Canada and isn’t really politics, but this happened to someone I know recently and I think it’s important that people know about it.

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Submitted by lifecarriesonendlessly.

Seriously guys, I really recommend that if you use these: stop.

This almost happened to me as well - I (along with my family) heard about people accidentally swallowing the bristles if they get stuck to the grill and then get caught in food, and our immediate reaction was “that sucks, but come on, how do you not notice them?”

And then not even a full 24 hours after we first heard about it, I got one in my burger. And the thing is, it’s really difficult to notice them. I literally thought it was a hair at first. And then as I was trying to get it out of my mouth, I thought ‘no, that’s not a hair, must be a burnt crunchy bit or something’ and then it got partially stuck between my teeth and I was finally able to grab it. All in all, it probably took me a good two to three minutes from first noticing it to finally getting it out of my mouth - and I lost it a couple of times too. If I’d been eating faster, or been less determined about getting it out of my mouth (I’m really picky about textures), I would’ve swallowed it. 

All in all, considering how many people use them, it’s actually a pretty rare occurrence, but it can cause so much fucking damage it’s just not worth the risk.

There are wooden and I believe stone or pumice bbq scrapers/cleaners that are much safer, if you have a wire cleaner, please replace it