Massive Cuisinart recall has 'ruined' Christmas and Hanukkah

Cuisinart is under fire for recalling 8 million food processors just before the busy holiday cooking season.

The food processors are a staple of many Americans' kitchens.

Their motorized blades make some of the most painstaking cooking preparation — like chopping, grating, and dicing — a breeze, especially when preparing food in large quantities.

But some of those blades can also end up cracking, chipping off, and landing in processed food, posing a serious laceration risk, Cuisinart recently revealed.

Conair, the company that makes the Cuisinart machines, has received 69 reports of people finding broken pieces of the blade in processed food, including 30 reports of mouth lacerations or tooth injuries, according to the company's statement on the recall.

Now millions of Americans are facing a holiday nightmare, with some accusing the company of ruining Christmas and Hanukkah.

"Just dandy, the timing couldn't be worse Cuisinart," Valerie van der Gracht wrote on Cuisinart's Facebook page.

Marie Alldridge wrote: "Merry Christmas to you! Now tell me with the recalls on food processors what am I supposed to do to get my baking and cooking done? Buy another product? I know for sure that you won't send me a replacement before Christmas since I can't even get in touch with oyu via phone or internet!"

"Cuisinart ruined Christmas," one person wrote on Twitter. Another tweeted, "The Cuisinart recall that ruined Hanukkah."

Conair has offered to send affected customers free replacement blades if they call 877-339-2534 or visit www.cuisinart.com/recall online. The recall affects 8 million food processors sold between July 1996 through December 2015.

But many people have complained that they have been unable to reach the company by phone and that the recall website has been crashing.

Customers have also complained that Conair has given no indication of when the replacement blades will be sent out. Conair did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"I am disgusted that you would announce such a huge recall using a phone number that doesn't work and a website that crashes. This is no way to treat your customers," Kate Johnson wrote.

Marsha McMichael Stutts wrote, "Like everyone else, I have a recalled blade and when I call all I get is a busy signal. It's the Christmas season and I need my food processor!"

Barb Kiebel said she's in such dire need of a processor that instead of waiting for a replacement blade, she went out and bought a new one.

But the new Cuisinart processor immediately broke.

"Before I even turned it on, just in putting the pieces together on the base; a piece of the plastic has broken off," she said.

Chef and food blogger Jason Perlow told the New York Times that the recall is “the foodie version of the Volkswagen diesel scandal.”

“Cuisinart just screwed up the holidays for a lot of people,” Perlow's wife told the Times.

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