2019 Update: People are talking about this again because Vitamix settled a class action lawsuit. Vitamix updated their bearing seal design in 2015/2016. That means any Vitamix you buy direct is not affected by the black specks issue.
Some readers have written in asking about black specks coming from Vitamix containers. (aka black flecks, dust, particles, or residue.) After investigating, I’ve decided that this is not a major problem, and I’d like to share why. Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Vitamix (among other companies), which means that if someone makes a purchase after clicking one of my links, I may receive a commission. However, the information on this site is fully independent from Vitamix. This page contains everything I could find out about the black specks. Also note that I am a daily Vitamix user, so I wanted to objectively assess the risk for myself.
The Vitamix black specks issue was brought to light in a number of web forums last year (2014). If you run a Vitamix on high with water only, and then pour the water into a white bowl or plate, with some containers you may see tiny black specks floating in the water.
I ran this test on my two main containers, and found no specks from a 32-oz container, and a few tiny specks with a G-Series 64-oz container. However, apparently all containers are equally likely to shed the specks: some do, some don’t.
After talking with a number of Vitamix employees about the black specks, I am not concerned about ingesting them.
The specks are coming from the bearing seal, and they are made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). You may be more familiar with the name Teflon, which is a DuPont brand name for their PTFE.
Are the Vitamix black specks unhealthy?
Most of us bought a Vitamix at least partially for health concerns, and ingesting black specks coming off your blender does not sound healthy.
However, PTFE is one of the most inert materials. Inert means that it does not react with anything, which is part of why it is such a good non-stick surface. PTFE’s inert nature means that ingesting it is safe—it will pass through you unchanged, without harming you.
In fact, PTFE is used in a number of implanted medical devices.
But what about the bad things you may have heard about Teflon? There are two scientifically based concerns that I’d like to touch on, although neither of them is relevant to Vitamix containers.
PTFE releases toxic fumes when heated above ~500°F
This is why you should be careful about preheating non-stick pans. However the Vitamix bearing seal never gets anywhere near that hot because it is in thermal contact with your food. If you were to run your Vitamix with nothing in it for a LONG time (over 5 minutes?), the bearings would heat up, but I think the container would melt well before the PTFE started off-gassing. (The container is made of Tritan copolyester, which starts to soften at ~250°F.)
Teflon used to be made using toxic Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
PFOA was previously used in the PTFE manufacturing process. It was associated with disease in factory workers, and it was also found as an environmental contaminant. However, PFOA was not found in significant levels in finished PTFE products. Moreover, DuPont stopped using PFOA in 2013. It’s easy to confuse PTFE and PFOA, since they are both strange-sounding four-letter chemical acronyms starting with P, but PFOA is no longer a concern for PTFE.
I mention these two genuine Teflon health concerns because they may be lingering in people’s minds. However, neither of them affects the Vitamix bearing seals.
The Environmental Working Group is tough on dangerous or questionable chemicals. Here’s what they say about ingesting PTFE particles: “Ingesting particles that flake off scratched non-stick cookware isn’t toxic because solid PTFE flakes are inert.” If we want to worry about toxic chemicals, I think auto pollution or the flame retardants in couches are worth thinking about.
Why does Vitamix use PTFE in the bearing seal?
In addition to being inert, PTFE is one of the most slippery materials. Slippery means low friction, which means that the high-speed bearings run more efficiently than they would with other materials. The only tradeoff is that PTFE has lower wear resistance than other materials. I suspect that lower wear resistance explains why we can sometimes detect the tiny black specks from Vitamix containers.
Do the black specks affect the longevity of the bearing seal?
I believe the answer is no, for two reasons:
- The specks are so small that they don’t add up to a significant volume of material.
- According to the Vitamix employees I have spoken to, the PTFE seal is not a new component on Vitamix containers. That is, they’ve been using PTFE seals for many years, without seeing significant problems. It seems that the new development is that people started running the water and white bowl test last year and started detecting the specks. I know of Vitamix containers that have been going strong since the mid 90s. Also, remember that new machines come with a 5 or 7-year warranty.
Why hasn’t Vitamix released a public statement?
I believe the reason is that they have determined that there is no health risk. I suspect that they do not want to have to explain why PTFE is not as scary as it might sound more than they have to. It took Vitamix a few months to communicate to all of their customer service associates, but now if you call and ask, the associates will tell you the nature of the black specks.
I trust Vitamix about the material of the particles. Vitamix is quite concerned about their consumers’ well being, as they demonstrated in their fast-moving voluntary blade recall in 2013.
In addition to not being a health problem, the black specs are not visible under normal blending conditions, so they won’t harm the aesthetics of your blends.
If these explanations do not put you at ease, you of course don’t have to buy a Vitamix. One side note is that all high-speed blenders use these PTFE seals, and the black specks have been found in all the top brands. Perhaps you’d rather go for some Stone Age technology?
Conclusion
For these reasons, I am not worried about the black specks, and I’m continuing to use my containers, even though I detected the black particles in one of them.
Finally, if you’re shopping for a Vitamix, perhaps you’d like to learn about the differences between all the Vitamix models. And, have you heard about the high value offered by Certified Reconditioned Vitamix machines?
Purchased a refurbished vitamix about 7 weeks ago. It had black specs. I called and left customer service my name and email address. They emailed me two days ago and said they will replace the 64 oz container with a new one that was re-designed to not produce the black specs. They emailed me a UPS shipping label and I should get the new and black spec free container in about 10 days! Great customer service! Good company!
This was very helpful! Thanks!
I just read your comment and opinion regarding black spechs issue.It was quite helpful and worth to share as we also have had same problem in Japan and seeking right answer as distributor of Vitamix in Japan.
Thank you!
Thank you
I just got a refurb 5200, and it’s shedding PTFE.
I have no health-related worries at all, but the question that comes to my mind is, why is the bearing seal shedding the seal material?
Vitamix has answered the shrillest concerns (“am I being poisoned?”) but they haven’t given a satisfactory engineering explanation. And this blog’s conjecture that there’s no problem because it’s not a lot of material doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Granted, you could be exactly right that there’s no longterm durability issue. But we really don’t know that. If there’s a problem with the way the PTFE has bonded to its substrate, then it’s possible that it will wear away prematurely, leading to accelerated wear, increased friction, heat, leakage, motor heating, or who-knows-what.
I’m going to call the company sometime over the next week. Usually customer service people aren’t given the real answers on this stuff. So I expect they’ll just offer to replace the jug. Which is fine. But if an engineer could talk about this candidly, that might be enough to put the issue to rest. If this truly poses no longterm issue for the blender then I’ll keep my jug and forget about all this.
The new design hasn’t made it into all of the refurbs yet, so, if you get a refurb with the black specks and they are a problem for you, you can call in.
I recommend calling first thing in the morning (8am EST weekdays or 9am EST Saturday), because later-in-the-day hold times have been on the long side recently.
I do believe that the amount of material coming off is tiny, and I also suspect that over time less material comes off. But you are right that I don’t have quantitative proof that the wear could never lead to a mechanical a problem.
Adam you can ask for a replacement canister. When I got my 7500 there were no issues but when I purchased a smaller 48oz container so I could make smaller batches of some things it had the black specks. I called and they sent me a shipping label via email and as soon as it was shipped they shipped out a new container that did not have any issues. From what I understand it’s only an issue on some containers and there’s no means to know which ones will be impacted but they are quite willing to send a new container.
I just purchased a 7500 from an Amazon distributor and definitely have specks in my water! It’s a bit of a bummer, but I will call Vitamix and hopefully get it sorted out.
Yeah, when you buy from a third party, you don’t know how long it’s been sitting in their warehouse. If you buy from Vitamix, you’ll get one fresh from the factory. That said, I’m sure Vitamix will take care of you.
I think you’re off base with the 3rd party comment;it’s more luck of the draw. I bought my 7500 through QVC because I wanted a blue one which wasn’t an option on Vitamix’s site. I had no trouble with black specks at all. In June I bought a 48oz container for smaller batches from a Vitamix representative at an event. It had black specks when I tested it and Vitamix sent me a packing slip and sent me a new container as soon as I called them with shipping verification. No specks at all with the new one. Regardless of where you get a container if it’s under warranty Vitamix will take care of it.
Thanks for sharing your experience Susan. I was referring to the fact that Vitamix changed the bearing seal design on machines coming out of their factory on August 11th. Before that some of the machines shed the specks, so then it was indeed luck of the draw. But now, if you get a machine from Vitamix, it will have the new design, whereas, if you get from a third party, it may have come out of the factory before August 11th.
This is THE most useful site for purchasing and/or blending that I have ever found. My god you should get an award.
Seriously – Thank you.
Rebecca Sherrod
Why mention the blender warranty when discussing the bearing seals?
Mine seized up, and when I investigated making a warranty claim just before my 7 year warranty was up, I discovered that the blade assembly is considered a consumable item NOT covered by the warranty.
I’m not sure what happened in your case, but your description does not match what I’ve heard from other Vitamix owners, from Vitamix employees, or from the written warranty itself. The warranty states:
“Vita-Mix warrants to the owner that if this Machine (a “Machine” consists of a motor blender base and any containers purchased together) fails within 7 years from the date of purchase due to a defect in material or workmanship or as a result of normal wear and tear from ordinary household use, Vita-Mix will, within 30 days of receipt of the returned product, repair the failed Machine or component part of the Machine free of charge.”
Their commercial warranties cover less, and specifically exclude consumables. If you buy a container separately from the machine, it comes with a 3-year warranty instead of the machine’s warranty period.
How did Vitamix change the design of the blades to not create specks? Please describe in detail.
Now, if we buy a new container at the Vitamix website, will we get the new design? How can we tell it’s the new design by looking at it?
Thanks
I do not know the details of the redesign.
I do know that they implemented the redesign on all containers years ago, so all new and reconditioned containers sold on the Vitamix website are now covered. The blades are marked with a manufacture date (MM-YY), so you can use that to tell when a blade was made. They started rolling out the redesign in 2015, and completed it in August 2016.