Throw out metal grill brushes, say doctors

The sharp, thin metal bristles of grill brushes end up in your food and then in your throat, from where there is "no surefire way of removing them," say surgeons. Throw them out.

That was the case for Lisa Wadden two years ago. The Dartmouth, N.S., woman ate a burger her husband had barbecued and noticed something pierce her throat.

"Every swallow, it just was this crazy pain, burning," she said.

"It was like I was being poked again with it every single time that I swallowed."

X-rays showed Wadden had swallowed a thin wire about 1.5 centimetres long, which had become embedded in her throat.

Over four months, she had multiple CT scans, X-rays, scopes and two unsuccessful attempts to remove it through surgery. Dempsey, who was Wadden's otolaryngologist, told her it was best to wait for scar tissue to build up around the wire and lessen the pain.

Get yourself a grill stone at Amazon, folks. Or if that's too rustic for you, one of these fancy copper scrapers.