Waffle maker recalled in U.S., Canada, after reports of burn injuries

A recall has been issued for the PowerXL Stuffed Wafflizer Waffle Maker. (Health Canada)

The risk of consumers being struck with burning pieces of waffle has prompted Health Canada to issue a recall for a specific waffle maker.

A recall was posted for the 5-inch PowerXL Stuffed Wafflizer Waffle Maker last week due to a burn hazard.

More than 350,000 units were sold in the U.S., while 777 units have been sold in Canada.

“Hot pieces of the waffle or stuffing can be expelled from the waffle maker during use or upon opening the product, posing a burn hazard to consumers,” the recall states.

The problem is caused by an issue with the latching mechanism when the waffle maker is overfilled, according to the company behind the product. If there is too much waffle inside the waffle maker, the pressure buildup inside the product can result in hot bits of waffle spewing out from the waffle maker when it is unlatched.

Empower Brands, which co-issued the recall along with United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, have received 44 incident reports from customers in the U.S., including 34 burn injuries. Three people in total sustained injuries bad enough to seek medical attention.

So far, no injuries have been reported in Canada.

The specific models affected are the ESWM02 and ESWM03. The Health Canada recall only includes the 5 inch ESW02. Consumers can check to see if they have an affected model by finding the model number on the rating label on a tab on the power cord.

Affected customers should stop using their waffle maker immediately, and can contact Empower Brands to receive a free latch adaptor part and instructions for how to repair the waffle maker.

The affected units were sold in Canada from July 2021 to October 2022, and were distributed by Tristar Products Inc. and Spectrum Brands Canada, Inc.

The waffle makers come in 11 colours, three of which were sold in Canada: black, cinnamon and slate.