Your NutriBullet could blow up and severely burn and cut you, lawsuit claims

At least 22 people are suing NutriBullet in separate lawsuits claiming the blending devices exploded on them and caused serious injuries ranging from painful cuts and nerve damage to second-degree burns.

Rosa Rivera, mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera, was the latest person to file a lawsuit, according to Danny Abir, an attorney at Abir Cohen Treyzon Salo, LLP, a firm handling NutriBullet cases nationwide.

Rivera was making chili last week when her Magic Bullet combusted, the lawsuit claims. Magic Bullet and NutriBullets are both owned by the same company.

“A lot of people think these machines are exploding because people are using hot liquids in the NutriBullets, but (Rivera) was working with room-temperature ingredients that got hot as the machine was running,” Abir told McClatchy. “None of our clients in these cases were using hot liquids when the machines burst.”

Rivera was sent to the hospital after the incident with second-degree burns on her face and neck, Abir told McClatchy.

Mark Suzumoto, an attorney for NutriBullet, told Fox 11 they would investigate the claims.

“Reports of blenders, which have operated normally for years, suddenly turning cool ingredients into scalding hot mixtures after less than 20 seconds of normal operation or components unthreading during use, are perplexing and contrary to the hundreds of millions of uses by satisfied NutriBullet customers worldwide,” he said in a statement.

Brendan Cosso is another one of the 22 people filing lawsuits for injuries they say were caused by NutriBullet, according to Fox 11. He told Fox 11 that his system chopped his hand “to pieces pretty much” after just 20 seconds of use when he was making a breakfast drink last September.

“The two blades basically chopped into my palm, still to this day, I can't feel my finger,” he told Fox 11. “I've got a pretty high tolerance for pain, it was deep and the meat was kind of hanging out, I had to go get stitches,”

NutriBullet warns customers in the manual to not use the blender for more than 60 seconds at a time, according to Abir.

“The problem is people are getting these systems off infomercials and no one is reading the manuals, first of all,” Abir told McClatchy. “The more times you use it, the less time it takes for the blender to blow up. That’s basically what’s causing most of these injuries.”

The lawsuits claim that these injuries could be avoided with safety features.

“The way these products are designed, there is no ‘off’ switch for when these machines heat up,” Abir told McClatchy.

Doug Rochen, another attorney on the case, told Fox 11 that the blade of the NutriBullet separates from the system “like a rocket ship” when it explodes, which he says has caused clients to suffer severe nerve damage in their hands.

This story was originally published November 14, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Your NutriBullet could blow up and severely burn and cut you, lawsuit claims."