Consumer Reports Deems NutriBullet A Possible Safety Risk

Infomercials for the NutriBullet Pro 900 claim that “even the toughest ingredients don’t stand a chance,” but when our colleagues at Consumer Reports put it to a durability test that crushes 7 large ice cubes 45 times, they two instances in which the NutriBullet’s blades cracked or broke off, leading CR to judge the device a “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk.”

CR did not find any evidence of injuries resulting from this particular model, but because the broken blade fragment could be small enough to hide in a blended beverage, it could pose a potential hazard to users.

In response to the CR test results, NutriBullet states that the device is not intended to be used as an ice crusher and should not have been subjected to the ice-crush durability test. According to the company, crushing ice with the NutriBullet Pro 900 without the presence of water or other liquid constituted a misuse of the product.

CR points out that the NutriBullet is listed on Amazon and elsewhere as a blender, and the company itself compares the product to “other blenders” in its owner’s manual.

The magazine had previously included an earlier generation of the NutriBullet in its blender Ratings for several years. That device survived the ice-crushing durability test without trouble.

“As for the alleged misuse of the machine to crush ice, nowhere are users given this warning,” writes CR. “We think it’s a conceivable use, and in an FAQ on the NutriBullet website, users are even encouraged to add ice to ‘NutriBlast’ recipes because it ‘will give a slightly thicker consistency and nice chill.’ And though many recipes call for water, there’s no explicit warning against using ice without liquid.”

by Chris Morran via Consumerist