About the Recalled Products
The recall covers five Expert Grill brush models manufactured in China and sold between January 2021 and August 2026:
- EX5607031616002 — 16-inch Steel Fiber Scrub Brush and Scraper (January 2025–August 2026)
- EX5607031616003 — Handheld Steel Fiber Scrub Brush with Ergonomic Handle (January 2025–August 2026)
- XG1310700206 — 21-inch 3-Head Grill Brush with Stainless Steel Bristles (January 2022–August 2026)
- XG1136178597003 — Long Handle Grill Brush with Scraper, 17.7-inch (January 2021–August 2026)
- XG1410700124 — 10-Piece Stainless Steel Grill Kit (December 2023–August 2026)
All five models were sold exclusively at Walmart stores and Walmart.com, priced between $1 and $28.
Latest Updates
The CPSC announced the recall on October 1, 2026, warning that small metal wire bristles can detach from the brushes and stick to the grill surface or food, posing an ingestion hazard and risk of serious internal injuries requiring surgery [1]. No injuries have been reported in connection with the specific recalled models [2]. Consumers are instructed to return the brushes to any Walmart store or discard them for a full refund or store credit [1].
Why Wire Bristle Ingestion Is a Serious Medical Emergency
When a metal wire bristle detaches from a grill brush and embeds itself in food, it becomes effectively invisible — a thin, rigid metal shard that can pass through the mouth and throat before the person realizes anything is wrong. Once swallowed, a loose bristle can embed in the tongue, tonsil, throat, esophagus, stomach wall, or intestine, causing perforation that rapidly becomes life-threatening without surgical intervention.
Published medical case reports document patients requiring emergency laparoscopic surgery and open abdominal procedures after ingesting wire grill brush bristles — including cases of gastric perforation, small bowel perforation, and foreign body lodgment in the neck requiring surgical removal. Injuries of this type have been documented across the medical literature for more than a decade, and the mechanism is always the same: a bristle that separated during brush use adhered to the grill surface, transferred to food during cooking, and was consumed without detection.
Five Years on the Market, Down to $1 Per Unit
The longest-running model in the recall — the Long Handle Grill Brush with Scraper — was sold from January 2021 through August 2026, a span of more than five and a half years. During that period, Walmart sold these brushes at price points as low as $1, a retail price so low that millions of consumers would have purchased one without any particular scrutiny of the product’s construction or safety profile.
Wire bristle grill brushes have been associated with ingestion injuries in the published literature since at least 2009. The CPSC’s recall of more than 4.4 million units raises the question of what safety testing Walmart conducted on its Expert Grill house brand before placing these products on shelves and how brush bristle retention was evaluated across the product line.
Walmart as Brand Owner and Exclusive Retailer
Expert Grill is a Walmart private label brand — meaning Walmart is not merely a retailer that stocked a third-party product but the brand owner responsible for the product’s design specifications, sourcing decisions, and quality standards. As both the brand owner and the exclusive retail channel for the recalled brushes, Walmart occupies a central position in any product liability analysis arising from bristle detachment injuries.
Reported Injuries
No injuries have been reported to the CPSC in connection with the recalled Expert Grill models. The absence of reported injuries does not eliminate legal exposure — it reflects the well-documented reality that wire bristle ingestion injuries are frequently misdiagnosed or not connected to a specific brush, and that victims may not report their injuries to the CPSC even when they receive emergency surgical care.
Can I File a Lawsuit?
If you or a family member suffered an internal injury after ingesting a wire bristle from an Expert Grill brush, you may have a product liability claim against Walmart. Contact an attorney promptly, as state filing deadlines apply.
What to Do Now
Stop using all recalled Expert Grill wire bristle brushes immediately. Return the brush to any Walmart store for a full refund or store credit, or discard it. Contact Walmart at 800-925-6278 (Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–9 p.m. CT) or visit corporate.walmart.com/recalls for more information.
References
1. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2027/Walmart-Recalls-Over-4-4-Million-Expert-Grill-Brushes-Due-to-Ingestion-Hazard
2. https://www.weau.com/2026/10/01/walmart-recalls-nearly-45-million-grill-wire-brushes-here-are-impacted-brushes/
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7949466/