Ninja Nutri Pro Blender Lawsuit Indicates Woman Severely Burned When Lid Exploded Off

Lawsuit alleges the Ninja Nutri blender design fails to account for pressure that may buildup due to heat from the spinning blades.

A Tennessee woman has filed a product liability lawsuit, alleging that design defects with her Ninja Nutri Pro blender caused hot milk and oatmeal puree to suddenly explode out of the blender, severely burning her face, chest, arm, hand and neck.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Shana Shaffer in the Superior Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on May 16, naming SharkNinja Operating LLC as the defendant.

SharkNinja has faced a rising number of product liability lawsuits in recent years, primarily involving its line of pressure cookers and blenders. Earlier this month, more than 1.8 million Ninja Foodi pressure cookers were recalled by SharkNinja after the manufacturer became aware of at least 106 burn injuries, including dozens of cases involving second- and third-degree burns. 

Alongside the recall, several pressure cooker lawsuits have been filed against SharkNinja, each alleging that defective lid locking mechanisms allowed the lid to open while the contents were still pressurized, resulting in scalding hot food being ejected and causing severe burn injuries.

In addition to the recalled pressure cooker lawsuits, SharkNinja has also been named in exploding blender lawsuits, which similarly point to design flaws that do not account for pressure buildup generated during normal use.

According to the lawsuit, Shaffer was using a Ninja Nutri Pro blender in December 2023 when it suddenly exploded, showering her with scalding hot contents from inside the device.

The Ninja Nutri Pro blender is composed of three parts: a motor base, a blade assembly and a single serve cup. The contents to be blended are placed in the cup, which is loaded onto the blade assembly before being attached to the motor base.

According to Shaffer’s complaint, the blender design does not take into account the heat generated from the blades’ friction, which can cause the cup to separate from the blade assembly, spraying the user and others in the blender’s vicinity with hot contents.

Shaffer indicates that on December 13, 2023, she was using her Ninja Nutri Pro blender to prepare hot oatmeal for her daughter, adding room temperature oatmeal, cold milk and protein powder to the blender’s cup. She then says that she started the blender up on the device’s “smoothie” cycle.

According to the complaint, after Shaffer removed the cup and blade assembly from the blender base, the cup suddenly shot off the blade assembly due to heat buildup from the spinning blades, causing hot contents to spill and burn her chest, arm, hand, neck and face.

She indicates that there are safer designs for the Ninja Nutri Pro blender, including the potential for an indicator that would show pressure build-up within the single serve cup component of the device.

“As a direct and proximate result of SharkNinja’s intentional concealment of its defects, its failure to warn consumers of such defects, its negligent misrepresentation, its failure to remove a product with such defects from the stream of commerce, and its negligent design of such products, Shana Shaffer used an unreasonably dangerous blender, which resulted in significant and painful bodily injuries,” the lawsuit states.

Shaffer raises allegations of strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and unfair and deceptive practices against SharkNinja. She is seeking compensatory damages.