Americans are finding metal in a variety of their foods this summer, from baked spaghetti to ice cream to sourdough bread. Even dogs are getting some metal in their meals, according to a recall this week.
If you’re a little jealous that you haven’t found any metal in your food recently, boy have we got a DIY hack for you. Conair has recalled over 3.6 million Cuisinart metal wire bristle grill brushes, according to an announcement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The small wire bristles are becoming detached from the grill brushes and adding a sprinkling of metal to foods on the grill.
Conair has received reports from at least 54 people who say the metal bristles have become detached from the brushes, almost certainly an undercount of the real number. The company has received three reports of people swallowing the bristles and needing medical attention to remove the metal pieces from their digestive tracts or throats.
“Consumers should stop using the recalled grill brushes immediately and contact Conair for a full refund or a credit for use at Cuisinart.com for a full refund plus 20% of the cash refund amount,” the CPSC alert reads. “Consumers will be asked to discard the recalled grill brushes.”
The brushes were sold at physical stores like Walmart, Burlington, TJ Maxx, and Ross. They could also be purchased online at Amazon and Cuisinart.com, among other retailers. And if you haven’t bought a new grill brush recently, that doesn’t mean you’re safe. The brushes were sold from June 2009 until March 2026 and come in a wide variety of styles.
For a full list of the recalled brushes, you can visit the CPSC website, which includes photos. It includes everything from plastic and bamboo-handled brushes to the wooden variety.
If the recall sounds familiar, that’s because it’s actually an update on a recall that started in July when over 1.7 million brushes were recalled. Today’s recall expands that by over 1.9 million brushes.
It’s not just metal that consumers need to be on the lookout for this summer. There’s also the glass contamination in products like Pillsbury rolls and popsicles. And there have been several recalls involving Salmonella in foods like frozen pizza, potato chips, and granola. There have also been the high-profile recalls of lettuce, eggs, and jalapeños.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which monitors meat, poultry, and egg products in the U.S., saw a 40% jump in food safety complaints in 2025. The most common type of complaint was for the presence of foreign objects. We don’t have all the data for 2026 yet, but it’ll be interesting to see if things are getting even worse. Because when President Donald Trump and his goons are in power, our food certainly gets less safe.
