BBQ brush bristle warning

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A Brantford woman is recovering after nearly swallowing a wire bristle from a barbecue brush. Well this may sounds like a freak accident, but it’s much more common than you’d think and it’s good reason to be cautious when you load up the grill.

Melinda Mouldey was eating the final bite of her hamburger at a friend’s barbecue last month when she felt a prick in her throat. “Like if someone took a pin and just kept poking and poking and poking. That’s what it felt like, over and over again.”

But it wasn’t a pin, it was a bristle from a barbecue brush and it was lodged nearly an inch into the base of her tongue. Dr. Natasha Cohen was able to remove it without further damage. Surprisingly, it’s far from the first case St. Joseph’s hospital has seen. Every summer they treat patients who have consumed food that’s picked up stray bristles left on the barbecue by a wire brush.

In one rare case, a patient had to have a portion of their intestine removed after it was punctured by a wire bristle. Luckily, Melinda is physically no worse for wear. Though her family has ditched the wire brush and she still can’t eat anything from the barbecue without a thorough inspection first.