SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Product safety incident

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20161107-A17A7-2147411031. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Matched catalog product: Ninja Ninja Auto IQ 1000W Blender. Source model text: Model BL682. Incident: I have a Nutri Ninja� Blender System with Auto-IQ� Model BL682 which I purchased from Bed Bath and Beyond. I previously had their Model BL740 which has the same problem. The blender blades has a hard plastic casing and a rubber o-ring to give a proper seal when using the blender for the NutriNinja cups. The debris from blended food becomes lodged between the rubber ring and the hard plastic casing of the blade housing resulting in build up of decaying food, mold, and a putrid odor. I contacted the manufacturer asking if there is a way to easily remove the rubber ring for proper cleaning and they informed me that the rubber ring should not be removed. This leaves the consumer with the problem that food debris will become lodged there posing a health hazard. I have looked online and found many posts from people with similar problems and they ultimately removed the rubber ring using a knife or other tool and found a large amount of rotting food matter. The instructions that come with the product for cleaning (fill blender with soapy water and run it on the blender) only cleans the blade and does nothing for the debris that is stuck between the rubber ring and the hard casing.