Cuisinart Has Recalled 8 Million Food Processors

The home appliance company Cuisinart has recalled several food processor models — from the past 20 years — after consumers reported suffering lacerations and even broken teeth from pieces of the machines' blade. Bustle has reached out to Cuisinart for comment. An estimated 8 million products are affected by the recall, which includes processors sold in the United States and Canada from July 1996 to December 2015.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal regulatory board tasked with monitoring risks from commonplace items that are sold to the public, Cuisinart's parent company Conair has received 69 complaints of broken blades and 30 complaints of injuries related to the product malfunction. Bustle has reached out to the CPSC for comment on the recall process.

So, how do you know if your food processor is part of the recall? The recall includes products that begin with the following model numbers: CFP-9, CFP-11, DFP-7, DFP-11, DFP-14, DLC-5, DLC-7, DLC-8, DLC-10, DLC-XP, DLC-2007, DLC-2009, DLC-2011, DLC-2014, DLC-3011, DLC-3014, EV-7, EV-10, EV-11, EV-14, KFP-7 and MP-14. Additionally, your product must have a riveted blade with a beige plastic center, like the one depicted here, in order to qualify for the recall. All consumers who do qualify can send in their old blade to Cuisinart, and the company will replace it with a new part for your food processor.

Luckily, the consumer harm doesn't seem to be that bad from this potentially lethal product defect. With over 8 million products affected over almost 20 years of sales, less than 70 complaints and only 30 injuries is much lower than what could have been. One explanation could be that most consumers haven't used their products much — according to ABC News, the blade only breaks after repeated use wears down the rivets. Consumers who haven't experienced any problems with their machine yet may not have been frequent users.

However, of course, you should still replace your blade even if you don't use your food processor very often. The risk of malfunction and injury is too great to chance it, and since the replacement blade is free, there's no reason not to take advantage of this opportunity to protect yourself and your family. Plus, maybe now you actually remember that you have a food processor. Be sure to pull it out of the back of your kitchen cabinet and give the bottom of your machine a check to see if you qualify to receive a replacement blade.

Image: Amazon.com