Weber recalls 3.2 million grill brushes over wire bristle hazard

More than 13 million grill brushes were recalled earlier this year after reports that wire bristles were breaking off, and Weber’s 3.2 million-unit action was the largest of the recent safety moves. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the small metal bristles can detach, cling to grill grates or food, and create an ingestion hazard that can lead to serious internal injuries requiring surgery.

Weber-Stephen Products LLC recalled about 3.2 million metal wire bristle grill brushes on February 26, 2026. Regulators said the company was aware of at least 38 reports and reviews involving detached bristles, including four cases in which consumers swallowed metal bristles and sought medical treatment to remove them from the digestive tract or throat. The recalled brushes were sold from 2011 through 2026 at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Target, Amazon and Weber.com for $10 to $17, under model numbers 6277, 6278, 6463, 6464, 6493 and 6494.

Peter A. Feldman, chairman of the commission, said the danger stems from a dangerous design flaw and urged consumers to stop using wire-bristle brushes and switch to non-wire alternatives. The agency also said it is reviewing the grill-brush product category more broadly, a sign that regulators see the risk as structural rather than isolated to one brand.

The injury pattern is not new. The CDC documented six cases in a Rhode Island hospital system between March 2011 and June 2012, and a medical paper estimated 1,698 emergency department visits in the United States over a 12-year period, from 2002 to 2014, tied to grill-brush bristle injuries. Those numbers explain why a seemingly ordinary backyard cleanup tool has become a persistent consumer-safety problem, especially as warmer weather pushes more shoppers toward grilling gear.

A bristle-free alternative is already being pushed into the market. Grill Rescue says its brush uses steam, a heat-resistant aramid-fiber cleaning head and a stainless steel scraper, and the company says it was founded by an active South Florida firefighter and gives back to first responders through its foundation. The real test for products like that is not whether they look safer on paper, but whether they can be bought at a price that competes with the low-cost wire brushes many consumers have used for years and whether they are easy enough to adopt before the next wave of grill sales arrives.