Planning to fire up the grill to cook some tasty barbecue? Be careful with how you clean it. Officials and a teen girl are warning every one of the dangers of grill brushes in light of a recent incident that left her in the hospital for weeks.
Jacqueline Beeson of Wilmington, Delaware was admitted to AI duPont Hospital for Children last fall after suffering mysterious abdominal pains. At first Beeson believed she had swallowed a fish bone. As doctors soon discovered however, the cause for her ailment was actually a steel bristle from a grill brush.
Officials say the bristle was inside a burger she ate and eventually punctured her colon.
The teen underwent surgery. Now that she’s fully recovered, she’s encouraging others to use alternative grill cleaning options.
“It’s definitely something I don’t wish upon anyone,” Beeson said. “It’s really painful and uncomfortable. Now we use the hard sponges to clean the grill rather than metal brushes.”
If you still want to use a grill brush, be sure to replace it if its old or has loose bristles. Other alternative grill cleaning options besides a sponge are cleansing pads and a steam cleaning system.
You can read more on the dangers of grill cleaning brushes here.
