Why did it take 37 burn injuries, including one of a 10-year-old Minnesota girl on her face and neck, before a recall of a Tassimo expresso machine and T discs that had burst?
Our attorneys deal with situations like this all of the time. Under the current law, many products can’t be recalled by the federal government. Instead, the manufacturer or distributor has to voluntarily recall the product. This is an outrage. What makes this worse is that safety testing is not required for many consumer products. So companies can put a dangerous or defective product on the market, receive reports of serious injury and death for years, and never issue a recall.
In this case, recalls were issued by Kraft (manufacturer of T discs) and BHS Home Appliance (manufacturer of the expresso machines sold under the Tassimo and Bosch brands). But again, why did it take 37 reports of 2nd degree burns for that to happen? Why did a 10-year-old girl have to be burned on the face and neck, scarred for life, before action was taken?
Attorney Fred Pritzker and our other burn lawyers are advocating for a change in the law and accountability at both the corporate and federal agency levels. You should contact Fred and his litigation team for a free consultation regarding a lawsuit against Kraft and BHS Home Appliance HERE. Our law firm files lawsuits on behalf of injured people and their families to make sure victims are compensated and wrongdoers are held accountable.
Tassimo and Bosch Expresso Recall Information
Below is Tassimo and Bosch expresso recall information from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with our comments:
Name of Product: Tassimo Single-Cup Brewers [sold under the Tassimo and Bosch brands].
Units: About 835,000 in the United States and an additional 900,000 in Canada [Pritzker Law Note: Evidence will need to be obtained regarding when the first burn injury report was received by BHS and/or Kraft and how many of these expresso machines were sold after that. The only way to get a lot of this information is by filing a lawsuit and doing discovery (the legal term for digging for evidence).]
Manufacturer: BSH Home Appliances Corp., of Irvine, Calif.
Hazard: The plastic disc, or T Disc, that holds the coffee or tea can burst and spray hot liquid and coffee grounds or tea leaves onto consumers using the brewer and onto bystanders, posing a burn hazard. [These T discs were manufactured by Kraft and sold under the following brands: Maxwell House, Gevalia and Nabob. 4 million T discs were recalled by Kraft.]
Incidents/Injuries: There have been 140 reports of incidents with the brewers spraying hot liquid, coffee grounds or tea leaves onto consumers, including 37 reports of second-degree burn injuries. One incident involved a 10-year-old girl from Minnesota who received second-degree burns to her face and neck and had to be hospitalized.
Description: This recall involves Tassimo brewers with the Bosch brand name and Tassimo Professional brewers. The brewers use plastic T Discs that are filled with coffee or tea to brew hot drinks. “BOSCH” and “TASSIMO” are printed on the front of the brewers. “TASSIMO PROFESSIONAL” is printed on the front of the professional model. The Bosch-brand brewers were sold in black, white, anthracite, gray, silver, red, titanium and white/gray colors. The Tassimo Professional brewers were only sold in black. The following model numbers and date codes are included in this recall. The model number and date code are located on the bottom of the brewer. No other Tassimo brewer is included in this recall.
Sold at: Department, mass merchandise and home improvement stores nationwide and on various websites, including www.tassimodirect.com, from June 2008 through February 2012 for between $100 and $250. The Tassimo Professional model was sold directly to hotels and food service providers and they are being contacted directly.
Manufactured in: Slovenia and China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled Tassimo brewers and contact the firm to order a free replacement T Disc holder for the brewing mechanism.
Contact our law firm HERE for a free consultation with an attorney.