Ahead, pitmasters, grilling experts, and chefs explain what wire grill brushes are and whether or not they are safe to use.

Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told HealthPop in an email that the risk of ingesting a stray wire from a grill brush is likely small ...

This week, a woman in Connecticut needed emergency surgery to remove a wire barbecue brush bristle from her ... The bristles had perforated the small intestines of two patients and the stomach ...

If you've been scraping off your barbecue grill with the same old brush ... with small little grasping forcepts." Dr. Leigh Sowerby says he's operated on three people who had swallowed wire ...

Getting rid of your wire grill brush is "really just a small change we can make to avoid this risk completely," she adds. Caroline Kee is a health reporter at TODAY based in New York City.

When you're done, toss it in the dishwasher or washing machine to get it ready for the next round of cleaning ... and this is much safer to use than the wire brush," a shopper said.