Walmart recalled 4,477,655 Expert Grill brushes because wire bristles can break off onto food

Walmart is recalling about 4.48 million Expert Grill wire-bristle grill brushes sold between January 2021 and August 2026, after federal regulators concluded that tiny metal bristles can come loose and end up in barbecued food. No injuries have been reported, but the swallowed-bristle risk is serious enough that shoppers are being told to stop using the brushes at once.

The remedy on offer is a full refund or store credit from Walmart, and the brushes can be returned or thrown away.

Five Expert Grill models and the dates they were sold

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the action on October 1, 2026 as recall number 27-010, covering about 4,477,655 Expert Grill brushes. Walmart, Inc. of Bentonville, Arkansas is listed as the importer, and the products were made in China. The notice names no separate manufacturer, and it lists the recall as one by Walmart itself.

Five models are affected, identified by number on the packaging or on a tag attached to the brush: EX5607031616002, EX5607031616003, XG1310700206, XG1136178597003 and XG1410700124. They range from a handheld steel-fiber scrub brush to a 10-piece grilling accessories set. The 17.7-inch long-handle brush with a scraper has the longest history, sold from January 2021, while the 16-inch scrub brush and scraper and the handheld scrub brush entered stores in January 2025. All were sold at Walmart stores and on Walmart.com until August 2026 for between $1 and $28.

How a loose bristle ends up on a plate

The mechanism is simple and unpleasant. The regulator’s notice says “Small metal wire bristles can detach from the brushes and stick to the grill or food,” and describes the result as an “ingestion hazard and risk of serious internal injuries that could require surgery.” The notice describes bristles that stick to the grill or to food, which means the hazard sits on the cooking surface and on the meal itself, not only on the brush a cook is holding.

The incident count at the time of the recall was “None reported.” That is the agency’s statement about injuries at the time of the recall. The sale window is long, running from January 2021 to August 2026, and the price range of $1 to $28 covers everything from a single handheld scrub brush to a 10-piece grilling tool set, so the recalled population spans several product types and more than five years of sales.

Medical researchers have documented the injuries for years. A team led by C. W. David Chang, MD, working with Baugh and Hadley, estimated in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery that wire-bristle grill brushes sent people to emergency departments 1,698 times between 2002 and 2014. The most common site was the mouth and throat, including the tonsils, and esophageal and head-and-neck injuries were more frequent than abdominal ones. The figure excludes urgent care and other outpatient settings, so it is likely an undercount, a point Chang made in the American Academy of Otolaryngology release: “The issue is likely under reported and thus underappreciated.” That study predates this recall and concerns wire-bristle brushes in general, not the Expert Grill models.

Refund, credit and the complaint route

The remedy in the CPSC notice is direct. Consumers should stop using the recalled brushes immediately and contact Walmart for a full refund or a credit usable at any Walmart store or on Walmart.com. Customers are asked either to return the brush or to discard it. Walmart’s consumer line is 800-925-6278, open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday, and the company also points to its help page and to a product recalls link at the foot of its website.

Anyone who runs into trouble getting the remedy has a second route. The commission publishes a recall complaint form tied to this notice for cases where a company is unresponsive or the remedy does not work as described. Walmart also keeps a recalls page on its corporate site, and the CPSC notice lists it among the places to find Walmart recall information. The notice also says that customers who prefer the retailer’s main site can click the product recalls link at the bottom of the Walmart home page.

What the recall record does not say

The notice does not explain why the bristles detach, whether the five models share a design flaw, or whether bristle loss was found through testing or through consumer complaints. It also gives no sales breakdown by model, so it is impossible to say from the record which of the five accounts for most of the 4,477,655 units. Those gaps do not change the instruction to stop using the brushes. They simply mark the limit of what the published notice establishes, which is a hazard description, a unit count, a list of models and a remedy, and not a root-cause finding.

For now, the documented facts are narrow and consistent: five identified models, a defined sale window, a stated price range, a hazard described by the federal regulator, and a refund available from the retailer. Owners can match the model number printed on the packaging or tag against the list in the notice before deciding what to do with a brush that has been sitting in a drawer.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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