Exploding Nutribullet Left Man with Severed Artery

A Manhattan hairdresser is suing Nutribullet after a terrifying blender explosion left him bleeding out in his own kitchen — and he says the trauma will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Joseph Sanchez, 46, says he was making a simple protein smoothie when the popular high-powered blender detonated like a grenade in his hands. The blast allegedly sent sharp plastic fragments slicing into his right hand — his dominant one — severing an artery and splattering blood across the room.

“It was just celery, milk, and protein powder,” Sanchez said in his lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. “Then boom — it exploded. Blood everywhere. I thought I was going to die.”

With blood “gushing onto the floor all around him,” Sanchez says he managed to wrap a necktie around his arm as a tourniquet before rushing to the hospital. Doctors confirmed the worst: a severed artery and permanent nerve damage.

Now, the Inwood resident says he’s living with chronic pain, numbness, and emotional scars that may never heal. “I’m a hairdresser. My hands are everything,” he said.

A History of Explosions — and No Warning Labels

This isn’t Nutribullet’s first legal mess. According to court filings, more than 140 lawsuits have been filed against the Los Angeles-based company since 2014 over similar incidents. In 2022, Nutribullet paid a $10 million class-action settlement — but admitted no fault.

Sanchez’s attorney, Daniel Ecker, says the company has known about the issue for over a decade and still hasn’t issued a recall. “They knew. They ignored it. And people are still getting hurt,” he said.

The problem, Sanchez claims, is built into the design: when the motor runs, pressure builds inside the sealed container. If the contents are too dense — or used for even a few seconds too long — the device can overheat, creating a pressure cooker effect that can “explode with no warning.”

Another Victim Tossed Aside

Sanchez isn’t the only one claiming the blender turned dangerous. A New Jersey woman, Lori Lynne Hoff, sued Nutribullet in 2021 after her unit allegedly exploded while making celery juice. She says she suffered burns and deep cuts that caused her to collapse. But her case was thrown out last month after a judge ruled her engineering expert didn’t provide enough evidence.

Despite selling more than 80 million blenders worldwide, Nutribullet has never issued a product recall or public warning about the alleged hazard. The company declined to comment on the latest lawsuit.

Sanchez is now seeking unspecified damages for what he calls a life-changing injury that “never should have happened.”

“If I can save one person from going through what I went through,” he said, “then this fight is worth it.”