Green Mountain Keurig, the Massachusetts-based maker of coffee machines known for their single-serving “K-Cup” pods, has announced the recall of its Mini Plus Brewing System, due to a malfunction that can make the brewer spray hot water.
The recall affects 7 million machines sold between December 2009 and December 2014, including 6.6 million in the US and over half a million in Canada.
The company is offering a free repair kit to fix the problem, with details available on its website.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, the company has received 200 complaints about hot water escaping the machine, including 90 reported burn injuries.
Though the recall will certainly hurt Keurig’s reputation, it seems unlikely to slow the wave of single-serving coffee. Though pod pioneer Keurig has been around since 1998, the craze has accelerated over the past few years: in 2013, US consumers bought $3.1 million worth of coffee pods, compared with $6 billion worth of traditional roasted coffee, and up from $132 million in 2008.
Still, many dislike the pods for their high price: a 2012 analysis by the New York Times found that based on the amount of actual coffee contained in the cups, the total cost works out to around $50 per pound.