SEATTLE — An Auburn man is suing a local Domino’s Pizza outlet over claims he swallowed wire bristles from a cleaning brush that were left behind in his takeout order. He says the bristles pierced his intestines and required emergency surgery.
Mike Norman, 50, a Boeing product manager, said he took one bite of a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza Sept. 19, only to feel a “sharp tearing” in his throat. He washed the pizza down with juice and bread, but said he later felt a “dull pain” in his gut.
Doctors eventually removed two 1 1/2 -inch fine-gauge wire bristles from his stomach, according to a complaint filed this week in Pierce County Superior Court. One of the wires had pierced Norman’s small bowel, doctors told his wife, Diane Norman, 48, a preschool teacher and daycare operator.
“It could have been lethal,” she said. Mike Norman’s abdomen now sports a 5-inch scar, photos show.
Kenra Keller, vice president of Carpe Diem Pizza Inc., which does business as Domino’s Pizza 7047, in Milton, Pierce County, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Tim McIntyre, a spokesman for Domino’s Pizza corporate offices, said by email that he couldn’t comment on a lawsuit filed against an independently owned franchise, but he added that such businesses are required to follow local, state and federal health regulations.
The Normans, who are represented by Seattle food-safety lawyer Bill Marler, are seeking damages for injuries and loss of income. But they said they’d also like to send a wider warning to food-service employees — and consumers — about the rare but risky danger posed by using wire-bristle brushes to scour grills and ovens.
“I’d like them to find a new way to clean their ovens,” said Diane Norman, who took pictures of the wire bristles she found later on the leftover pizza. “It turns your life upside down.”
The Normans filed a complaint about the incident with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. County health officials conducted an inspection and found that workers at the Domino’s Pizza restaurant, at 2800 Milton Way in Milton, were using wire brushes to clean the ovens — and that some of the brushes showed visible signs of wear, according to documents and photos.
The problem with wire brushes isn’t new. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a dozen cases of injury from ingested wire grill brush bristles at a single Rhode Island hospital system over three years.
“The severity of injury ranged from puncture of the soft tissues of the neck, causing severe pain on swallowing, to perforation of the gastrointestinal tract requiring emergent surgery,” the agency’s report read.
Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission have also fielded multiple reports of injuries from wire bristles embedded in food. The agency is investigating the issue to determine whether to issue a consumer warning, product recall or other regulatory action.
The CDC warns restaurants and other businesses to “examine whether their patrons are at risk for this injury” and advises “use of alternative grill-cleaning methods or products,” according to the report.
Two months after the incident, Mike Norman has recovered from his injuries, but he regards it as a close call.
“A company should be accountable to what they’re providing consumers,” he said. “I’d like to see food organizations look for ways to implement better safety practices.”
Diane Norman said she worries about what would have happened if one of the four young children in her family had bitten into the pizza instead.
“If it had been a little kid, they couldn’t have explained what was wrong,” she said.
