Braai's brush with death

30 May 2016 - 09:09 By TMG Digital

With gorgeous autumn weather predicted across the country, a braai might seem just the thing.But be warned: more than 140 people a year end up in emergency rooms in the US with injuries caused by bristles that fall off wire brushes used to clean grids.The problem arises when bristles get into food."One little bristle could get lodged in various areas of the body, whether in the throat, tonsil or neck region," said David Chang, of the University of Missouri School of Medicine."If the bristle passes through those regions without lodging itself, it could get stuck further downstream in places like the oesophagus, stomach or the intestine."The biggest worry is that it will lodge into those areas and get stuck in the wall of the intestine."The bristles could migrate out of the intestine and cause further internal damage."Chang's study found that 1698 bristle injuries were reported between 2002 and 2015...

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