Hello Beautiful!

It looks like you're new to The Community. If you'd like to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Vitamix a Toxic Blender ?!!

Hi all….

I have been searching a long time for a real save powerfull blender that is capable of rupturing every cell open from the plant cellulose in the greens, so that our bloodcells can absorb the nutrients. According to Victoria Boutenko’s books the Vitamix is a good buy for this, so I decided to buy it last week.

When it arrived I first cleaned out the container with water and immediately noticed a very unpleasant smell coming out of the container. So I thought hey what is this, I just bought probably the best blender in the world and the container doesn

24

Comments

  • Thanks for your answer. Plastic materials that are not hardened enough leach their toxic ingredients in the fluids, independent of the fluid temperature, it simply just leaches.It is like plastic teeth fillings, you have leaching ones and non leaching ones.

    Ofcourse if heated fluids are being used in the plastic container (bottle) then the toxins leach out even quicker. Also according to Dr. H. Clark it all has to do with the hardening of the fabcricated plastic, this can make a huge difference. You can even have a very toxic plastic become completely nutral if it has been hardened enough by very high dry heath.

    Again it’s all about the hardening, and I can tell you this Vitamix container is definatelly not hardened enough else it would not smell.

    Don’t focus to much on the rating # of the plastic, it’s also about the hardening process.

  • greeniegreenie Raw Newbie

    Waring used to make blenders with glass carafes. I don’t know if they still do.

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Thanks for the heads-up. I think I’ll stick with my Oster Fusion with the glass carafe!

  • NOOOOOOO!!!!!! THis soo totaly SUCKS!! I am completly bummed and am wondering if I can get my money back, I love my Vitamix!! DAMN IT!!!! I dont know about the blade or the grade of Stainless Steel but the old vitamix container was metal, as if thats any better! Damn It Damn It Damn IT! SO LAME!!

  • I even planned to make my own baby food with the Vitamix, be aware !!!

    Chemicals in Baby Products

    As children

  • deborahanndeborahann Raw Newbie

    I, too, love my vita-mix. What about the K-Tec which I think has a Lexan container- Any info on that? I will coninue to use mine and hope that all the plastic storage and other chemicals I have eliminated over the past year will “balance” whatever is coming out of the vitamix. I can’t hardly wait to hear what the chemist finds in the smoothie!

  • @deborahann

    If you read this link you will see that a Lexan container is also made from Polybicarbonate. http://www.debraslist.com/freecontent/fca_toxic…

    About Lexan:

    What you store your water in could be just as important to your health as the kind of water you drink. For instance, Lexan bottles (and, in fact, all bottles made with #7 plastic) are quite unstable, and have been shown to have toxic effects on the body.

    In a recent study, polycarbonate plastics (including Lexan) were shown to increase aneuploidy, an abnormal loss or gain of chromosomes, which contributes to miscarriages and disorders like Down Syndrome in humans.

    Nalgene is one brand that manufactures Lexan water bottles. I have a few of these in my cabinet, and use them primarily for hiking and camping trips in the Rocky Mountains. Since discovering that Lexan can be dangerous to my health, I’ve severely limited my use of them.

    http://ryanhealy.typepad.com/ryans_blog/2005/04…

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Amazing info Shaker~ A few thoughts came to my mind… I’m wondering if what you smelled when you unpacked the blender was from the manufacturing process and/or a build up from being packaged. Not that that makes it any better. I was just thinking how many times I have gotten something new and it had a “smell” to it that went away. Like when one gets a new car… Maybe that should be a red flag… hm? I was also thinking if something is made with Bisphenol A and/or nickel, is there a way to pull it out (do a detox) of the item, some type of preparation before using (like soaking the item is some sort of solution)? This inquiry is not to justify the use of these toxic substances, but as an inquiry to living in a toxic world.

    Putting the toxic issues aside, from what I have seen, the Vita-mix is a great blender. With these issues, it is surprising to me that it is so widely used and by very reputable health-related institutions. Possibly a plan for change is not to wait on the manufacturer to “get it” about the potential health issues. Possibly a plan for change is to generate a grassroot campaign to “encourage” the company to change due to financial consideration (people telling them they are not buying their product because of these issues and working with them to find a solution).

    Again, I am not justifying anything here, simply inquiring for a solution that works for everyone.

  • @Bluedolfin

    I also had that thought why it is so smelly that it could have something to do with the manufacturing process, as it is new. So I soaked it and soaked it, over and over again, and the smell still did not dissapear, it constantly came back. I even soaked it for hours in extreme hot water, but also to no avail. Nope there is definatelly something wrong with the material in my opinion.

    In respect to your remark to soaking the container in a sollution to sort of coat the Polycarbonate would sound really like music in my ears, but I don’t have a clue in what kind of solution we should soak this then. I read on some websitez that “smart” companies are doing this with their Polycarbonated plastics, but they keep it a secret how they exactly are doing this.

    And what your remark concerns, that the Vitamix is a great blender. I can only agree with that, I have never seen such a powerfull blender, but then again the material grrrrrrrrrr.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi Shaker~ I was thinking rather than a “coating” that the soaking solution would draw the material out. I don’t know if this would cause structural breakdown though. This is kinda a black hole for me thinking about it… I think we need a chemical engineer for the expertise. Yoohoo, is there a chemical engineer out there?

    As to your blender, did you try to soak it with baking soda or maybe viniger in the water? But the soaking solution would depend on what the smell is all about… Not knowing that and trying to counter it is shooting in the dark…

    I can understand your sense of smell. I have a sensitivity to mold or something. I can tell when a bad orange or berry is used in something… it tastes “off” to me. Others have said it tastes fine… Ugh! Maybe we were “substance sniffing dogs” in an earlier life. ;-)

  • Thanks, Shaker, for the informative posts. I, too, am bummed by this news because I’ve been using my vitamix for quite a while and I’ve hope it’s been contributing to my good health. What you’re writing sounds intuitively right to me, but I don’t have the chemistry background to know whether or not the amounts of toxic chemicals are significant enought to affect longterm health of adults. With children, yes, I’d be more cautious.

    I’ve also noticed a certain odor when using the vitamix. Sort of a rubbery smell. Sometimes I can even taste something rubbery (not my ground up rubberbands… but something from the blender). When I first got the vitamix I was disappointed the container was plastic, not glass, because I’ve read about Bisphenol A. One question for you about Bisphenol A. I’ve read that temperature differences have an effect on the release of the chemicals. Do you know anything about this? If the vitamix container remains in a temperature stable environment, is there a chance it won’t release as many toxins as you’re indicating here?

    What a drag…

  • @Bluedolfin

    I would assume that if I soak it with Baking soda that after a few blend-runs “the nutralized coating” will wear of again. I mean the baking soda won’t penetrate the outside layers of the plastic container, so it might only be a temporary relieve, if at all.

  • @Shane

    “One question for you about Bisphenol A. I

  • deborahanndeborahann Raw Newbie

    Maybe a grassroots e-mail cmpaign to encourage the Co. to manufacture a glass container that you could buy seperately. I would be willing to do that. This seems to be the blender most widely used by people engaged in a healthy lifestyle and if these facts were widely known, it might encourage the masses to let the Co. know their feelings on the situation. Thanks for all the info.

  • @Deborahann

    I already asked Vitamix Corp why they don’t use a glass container, or at least give the people a choice in respect to the container they chose to buy. The answer from them was: That is out of consideration as one might accidently leave a metal spoon or other metalic material inside the blender and then the glass container might explode in a thousand pieces because of the power during blending.

    I cannot really imagine this as in my opinion the metal spoon would be earlier ruptured apart then a thick glass container when blending on full boost.

    Besides that according to the sales rep Vitamix is proud that their containers are made from the same plastic material that is used for Airplane windows, in other words super strong. Btw, I found their logic that a metal spoon could destroy a real thick glass container not logic. I mean there also exists bullet proof glass windows for cars, and those are around 1 cm thick and can withstand a .44 Magnum !!

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi Shaker~ You have done a lot of work talking with Vitamix. However, when you speak with a sales rep (no offense to sales reps intended) you are speaking with someone with little power/influence in the company. They are a frontline buffer/gatekeeper, one of the hardest jobs around. To really make a difference, speak with the President, Product Manager for the product, and/or Head of Research/Engineering (or whatever they call that department).

    As to creating a “coating” or leaching out the toxic stuff to a “usable” level, a chemical engineer who knows how to do it can better suggest a solution. I threw out baking soda as an example because, like duck tape, it works for soooo many things. :-)

    Since you are so knowledgeable about this stuff, I was wondering if you knew anything about infrared ovens. I saw they can be used for dehydrating and dehydrates faster than a regular dehydrator. I have no knowledge about how they work, if they work like a microwave, heat stuff up, or whatever

  • Raw_ChocoholicRaw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

    Is nothing sacred?

    It’s interesting because I just came back from shopping for a water bottle. I decided not to buy anything because it all just seemed to feel too plasticy and toxic.

    What does everyone think about these Kleen Canteen bottles? What happens if you scratch them while cleaning, will it then start to leach things into the water? Maybe it would just be better to use this for hiking, and find a glass water bottle somewhere.

    As for blenders, is there anything that is glass, has a high quality stainless blade, and works very well? I’m not looking to crush every single plant cell, but I do want something I can rely on as right now I’m looking for a new blender. Is Jack Lalane’s HealthMaster made of glass? Is the Oster Fusion of good quality?

    bluedolphin: I know that a microwave will actually damage the molecular structure of the food. I even read a study done of plants that were fed microwave water as opposed to regular water – the former all died. I know that infra-red is not not extactly on the same wavelength as a microwave. I believe it’s closer to the visible spectrum. I don’t really know enough to recomend it or not, but to be on the safe side a regular dehydrator is probably best. Hmmm . . . someone should repeat the plant study, but with water which has been in an infra-red sauna.

  • Please all watch this 15 minute video for a quick impression of what Bisphenol A in Polycarbonate is doing to our body. The video which was originally broadcasted on Israelian Television consists of two parts. The videos have been perfectly translated/synchronized to English :

    Polycarbonate leaches Bisphenol-A (Part 1/2)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iJTBv3RV5g

    Polycarbonate leaches Bisphenol-A (Part 2/2)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN22F1dlaog

    Also interesting to learn from this video is that in Japan they even banned Polycarbonate bottles. ””Every”” bottle you will find on the supermarket shelves are now made from Glass, there are no more plastic bottles to be found !! In other words people from the Western world are immune to Polycarbonated bottles and the Japanese are not ? come on !! Besides that, according to the research Polycarbonate can also make a human become infertile over time

  • Wow, this is an interesting thread! I want to know all I can, please keep it coming… I have a couple Klean Kanteens-I really like them. I don’t know about anything leaching from them. I am looking for glass bottles, but haven’t found any in the retail stores where I am. I have been re-using the bottles from the Kombucha I’ve drank. Does anyone have any recommendations for bottles?

  • humanimalhumanimal Raw Newbie

    Thank goodness I my Cuisinart blender has a glass container!

  • I’m tried using stuff like snapple bottles (but not snapple cause I don’t drink it… something similar… I think it was Honest Teas that I used to drink?) ... anyway, I loved them BUT after a while I found that the cap was starting to rust.

  • In respect to someone asking about what Microwaved water does to our plants, here the test with illustrated pictures:

    http://www.execonn.com/sf/

  • Morning_theftMorning_theft Raw Newbie

    What are good bottles to use? I was also looking for a water bottle, I’ve been re-using plastic bottles forever (I know, terrible, but I have nothing else) and need to find something else. Would Sigg be any good? http://www.sigg.ch/

  • Shaker, thanks a lot for this insight. I have known for a long time that plastics leach chemicals into the food or beverage that is contained inside them. I read an article that was writen in a magazine I picked up at a health food store. It said that the recycle numbers 3, 6 and 7 were the most toxic. I also understand that as you mentioned any of the types of plastic can be toxic if they are treated with other chemicals like Bisphenol A or others. I rarely use a blender but when I do I use one with a glass container, that said I also use a personal blender from Tribest which has a plastic container for making strawberry smoothies at work. I suppose it also adds some toxins to my food. This all brings us back to the best way to eat, this is the way nature has created the food, right off of the plant. I don’t know why Victoria Boutenko would recommend consuming foods processed in a blender. Is nature wrong? Can we not get the vitamins and minerals from eating the food right from the plant? Do we really need to try to ‘improve’ on what nature has created? Is it in fact improving the food? Blending does 2 things to food, the first is breaking down the bonds on the cell walls, which might be a slight advantage to eating the food right off the plant, or might it not be as beneficial as we think?, the second is the oxidation of the food by the oxygen that is now getting exposed to each and every cell of the food, as we all know oxygen can react with living cells and cause damage. This is why we hear so much about anti-oxidants. Does the damage that occurs to the food out weight the benefits (if any?) or do the benefits overshadow the damage? I believe the best case is a break even scenario where there is no advantage at all in blending. Nature has created our teeth, gums, saliva, enzymes and tongue to do all the blending we need to get the most from food. I don’t think we need to be too concerned with the kind of blender we use because nature didn’t provide a blender to use so we need to take it’s hint and not blend.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    I have a BlendTec and it is made of the same materials as the VitaMix unfortunately. Mine never smelled and I bought it new. Before that I had a Oster with a glass carafe.

    I wonder if you can have a blade built into glass carafe though – it might not hold up as well? I know the reason they make the carafe out of the polycarbonate is that it is virtually indestructable which glass is not. I wonder if that is the reason why they didn’t make the carafe in glass. I think they were also trying to create something lighter since the bases are so big.

    You can speed up the “outgasing” of your carafe by washing it and than letting it sit out in the sun. New items that are made out of plastic or treated with chemicals can often take years to outgas. The carafe, since it gets washed alot, will be quicker than say a new mattress or a couch. Realize how many chemicals are around you especially when you sleep – your mattress and your sheets and pillows. Unless you have bought organic have all been treated with formaldehyde – when you think about how much time you spend in your bed, you realize how much you absorb and breathe in these chemicals.

    I try to buy stainless steel for all my other applicances – Cuisinart is good for that. I have a stainless steel dehydrator. I have also seen some blenders with stainless steel carafe – I think Oster has one. But I know my Oster before couldn’t do alot of the things my Blendtec does.

    I don’t really think the glass or stainless steel blenders may be perfect either though. There is always some part that is made out of plastic which may outgas some chemicals into your food. I gues it really depends on how much you use your blender.

  • @SocaL

    Very good point you are making here, thanks for asking.

    The only thing is, which is also partly being adressed by Victoria Boutenko, is that most of us cannot rupture the ingredients out of the plant fibers with our teeth. And those enzymes in the fibers are so important for the digestion of whatever fruit of vegie we are eating. It

  • @Gueenfluff

    “You can speed up the

  • Hey Guys,

    Something I always try to keep in mind is BALANCE! We are all doing so many great things for our health that a little plastic isn’t going to kill us. As for glass containers I find mason jars to work the best. They come in so many different sizes that you can use them for almost all food storage. And as for water bottles if you don’t want to use glass try using a good quality stainless steel water bottle which isn’t going to leach any chemicals into your water.

  • Your food is in the Vita-Mix for a just a moment, really. I don’t think it matters at all. Besides, do you realize that nickel (the blades are nickel) is a trace mineral that needs to be present in our bodies?? Just like when some people use cast iron for frying their eggs, they can sometimes can get some iron into their systems. This is good. I wish the Vita-Mix container wasn’t “toxic” as they say, but this really shouldn’t be a problem unless you’re heating your vita-mix container over the stovetop. That’s when plastic become toxic. Pretty much everything that I put in the Vita-mix is either cold or just room temperature, not heated. I don’t believe you can get much, if anything, off the container like that. If so, it would be no more then the toxics you come in contact in a normal day even with a 100% raw, clean air and excersise diet. That’s my opinion, correct me if I’m wrong.

  • Does anyone know if this is resolved in the new 5200 mixer? It looks as if they have changed the composition of the materials (no BPAs). I have thought about getting ont he waiting list, but after reading all your great posts I think I might stick with my dinky (but glass carafed) blender.

Sign In or Register to comment.