Vitamix Owners, Protect Those Fingers

It's been dicey business for users of Vitamix brand blenders, leading to a nationwide recall of more than a half million blending containers and blade bases. Per a notice posted Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company said that the recall applies to about 569,000 units of the product—both the 8-ounce and 20-ounce sizes, from the Ascent and Venturist series—after reports of 27 lacerations, per CBS News. An additional 122,000 or so were sold in Canada.

"The containers can separate from the blade base, exposing the blades [and] posing a laceration hazard to consumers," the CPSC notice reads, adding that nearly 120,000 of the products involved in the recall had been previously recalled, in 2018. Vitamix recommends anyone with these particular containers—sold at such outlets as Costco, Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, as well as online at Amazon and through Vitamix's own website, from April 2017 through last month—stop using them ASAP and ask for a repair kit.

Vitamix has posted a tutorial online on how to use the kit, which includes a protective plastic sheath over the exposed blade base, as well as more directions labels. "Simply follow the instructions to install the shroud—no tools are required—and you are ready to blend again," the company notes. Consumers can call 1-855-215-5178 or head here or here to request a repair kit. (More Vitamix stories.)