Food processer fails safety test

Press, 21 April 1982, Page 13

Food processer fails safety test

A food processer which fails an important electrical safety test has been discovered by the Consumers’ Institute testing programme. The Hitachi. model HFGOP, which has been sold in New Zealand for the last 12 months, has a safety problem, according to the director of the institute, Mr R. J. Smithies. “All electrical appliances

should have their 'power cords firmly fixed,” he said.

“However we found that the Hitachi food processer’s power cord was not fixed to the casing of the machine. This means that if the cord is given a sharp pull, it can part company with the processer and expose live wires.” Mr Smithies said that this was the fourth public warning about unsafe products that the institute had made in the last three weeks. The Hitachi New Zealand agent, Brown and Dureau (N.Z.), Ltd, had told the institute that about 200 of the food processors had been sold without cord anchorage. All green-coloured processors had the fault, and so did some cream models. “Brown and Dureau has said that owners of Hitachi

food processors bought since April last year should return them to the company’s offices in Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch,” Mr Smithies said. “If this is not possible, owners should take their processor back to the shop where they bought it. A simple modification will then be carried out free of charge.”