Did you know that wire grill brushes can shed their sharp bristles and become harmful to your health? After cleaning the grill, bristles can get left on the grate, and transfer to food that accidentally gets ingested. This poses a risk to users of wire grill brushes.

I know, this seems far-fetched. I thought so too, until I started looking for safe and natural alternatives and found it is a much bigger problem than I originally thought. A study in the journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (in 2016) claimed that an estimated 1700 Americans went to an emergency room after ingesting wire bristles in grilled food (between the years of 2002-2014). A fourth of those incidents resulted in being admitted to the hospital. However, once I started talking about this, I found stories from numerous friends who had experienced some sort of negative result after using a wire grill brush. Many required a doctor visit, or help from outpatient clinics, which means they aren’t included in the statistics above.

Injuries have included lacerations in the mouth and throat, and sometimes intestinal and stomach injuries. Some of these incidents have even required surgical removal.

Some measures that are recommended by multiple sources: clean with alternative tools like tin foil, inspect your grill and food before cooking and eating, only grill in good lighting, and discard grill brushes once you notice they are beginning to lose bristles.

We knew there had to be a better way! We scoured the market and found a wonderful alternative: grill scrapes. We sourced the best quality brand we could find – they are designed and made here in the USA, from natural hard woods, which will give your scrape a longer life. We have found that not only are we fans of this alternative grill cleaning method, but so are many of our happy customers!

*No content on our website should be considered or construed as medical advice. Please consult a physician for questions regarding your health and wellbeing.