10.2 Million Nexgrill Wire Grill Brushes Recalled After Metal Bristles Lodged in Food

Nexgrill has recalled about 10.2 million metal wire-bristle grill brushes sold at Home Depot after the bristles were found to detach during use and become embedded in food — where they can be swallowed and cause serious internal injury. Five people swallowed detached bristles and needed medical treatment, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

It is one of the larger consumer-product recalls of the year by unit count, and it lands at the start of grilling season.

The hazard

Wire grill brushes are used to scrub cooking grates clean. The risk is mechanical and well-documented: individual metal bristles can break off, stick to the grate, and then transfer onto food during cooking. A swallowed bristle can lodge in the mouth, throat, or digestive tract and may require surgery to remove.

This is not a hazard unique to one brand — emergency physicians have warned about wire-bristle brushes for years, and the injury pattern is consistent enough that some grillers have switched to bristle-free designs entirely. What makes a recall like this one notable is the scale and the fact that injuries were reported before the action.

What owners should do

Consumers with a recalled brush should stop using it and follow the remedy CPSC specifies in the official notice (typically a refund or replacement). Anyone who believes they may have ingested a metal bristle, or who experiences mouth, throat, or abdominal pain after grilling, should seek medical attention.

The bigger picture

411 Press tracks federal recalls across the CPSC, FDA, and NHTSA. A recall of this size is a reminder that "everyday" household products carry real injury risk, and that the recall system depends on people reporting injuries — here, five reported cases were enough to move 10.2 million units off the shelf.

Full recall details, affected model numbers, and the remedy are on CPSC.gov.