Man Requires Surgery After Consuming Pizza Contaminated With Wire Bristles

As reported on the Marler Blog, a man required surgery to remove two small pieces of wire that had become lodged in his intestines, one of them piercing the intestinal wall.  The wire pieces came from a pizza he ate, originating from a wire brush that was used by the pizza shop. 

As sited in the article, investigators inspected the shop and  “Observed a wire brush with food debris between the wires. Wires on the brush were bent and pointing in different directions and did not maintain its original design. Employee stated they had another brush that was used to clean the oven but was discarded last week. Person in charge stated the outside of the oven is cleaned every night and the inside of the oven is cleaned once a month using the brush.”

This is not the first issue involving wire bristles from an overused wire brush.  In another recent case, a man required surgery when a wire bristle was inadvertently consumed via a steak from the grill. (http://pennstatefoodsafety.blogspot.com/2012/05/metal-bristle-from-grill-brush-example.html).

Operations must consider the risks of using metal bristled brushes, and where possible, look for alternatives.  If they are used, care must be taken to ensure that bristles are not shed onto the equipment surface and that those brushes are replaced regularly, certainly if it is expected that the wires can become dislodged.



Wire Brush and Pizza – Not a Good Mix Posted

By Bill Marler on November 13, 2014
http://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/wire-brushes-and-pizza-not-a-good-mix/#.VGYOj010yUl

 On the evening of Friday, September 19, 2014 Diane Norman bought pizzas at Domino’s Pizza located at 2800 Milton Way in Milton, Washington. She took the pizzas home for her family to consume. Michael Norman chose two slices of Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza and took a bite of one slice. He swallowed and immediately felt something sharp in his throat. He started to choke and dashed to the sink to drink water to help clear his throat. At this point he felt a sharp tearing at his throat and drank a glass of cranberry juice. His throat felt scratched and to relieve his pain he ate a slice of bread. Although this action eliminated the feeling that food was lodged in his throat, Michael felt a dull pain in his stomach. Since he was no longer felt hungry, he did not eat any more pizza. Diane Norman froze the remaining leftover pizza. Sometime later she examined the frozen pizza slices and found a wire in a piece of the pizza she had saved.

For the rest of this article, visit:
http://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/wire-brushes-and-pizza-not-a-good-mix/#.VGYOj010yUl