Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Regarding the 'Paddle Waddle' wear issue of the Zojirushi. The letter from Zojirushi (manufacturer or some rep) responding to the complainants posted on http://www.saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1339046 about eating.aluminum and the engineered failure points of their bread machine. This bread machine has generated NUMEROUS complaints about the Eating Aluminum question and the Paddle Waddle wear failures common to this device. Such a well engineered product EXCEPT for the paddles and the torque delivery system. There is, in my opinion, an engineered failure point in this part of the mechanism. The flats on the shafts, that take the brunt of the beating during the kneading process, are minimally adequate. The play (looseness) between the shaft and the paddle tube body promotes the "stripping" or wearing down of the 'bridge' material that is meant to drive the blades through the bread dough. I am looking at a 'brand new out of the box' device and see that this will fail in the near future. The play creates a brief acceleration of the harder shaft impacting the softer aluminum type material of the paddle body (sorry) each time the paddles change direction, resulting in an impact into the paddle's minimal bridge (locking notch) material. There are a number of simple solutions to this problem but Sojirushi states that it will not fix this problem. There is a letter from the Zojirushi manufacturer (or some rep) responding to the complainants posted on http://www.saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1339046. What I got out of their statement is the following (in a nutshell): 1. It is not a problem to *eat aluminum every day. 2. Their machine is destined to fail regularly due to the wear and tear of the paddle design. 3. It is your fault if it does because you used too heavy a mixture in the bread dough. 4. We will not fix this. Opinions of family and friends to Sojirushi: . . . 1. Ingesting aluminum: Your statement that adults eat 7-9 mg of aluminum DAILY is misleading and a bad excuse for your irresponsibility, in my opinion. Most producers of the antiperspirants, antacids, cosmetics, have eliminated and/or found safer substitutions to aluminum in their products. People who are taking control of their health and the food their families eat DO NOT WANT TO BE EATING ALUMINUM. It has been linked to dementia and Alzheimer's as well as other issues. You site statistics for 'adults' but not children, known to be more sensitive to toxins during their development. Fix the paddle waddle Soji and you will essentially fix the aluminum eating issue! . . . 2. This is not rocket science. Making a paddle that will last is something that many of the lower priced bread machine market has mastered a long time ago. My current machine is 5 years in use three times a week and still works perfectly (we are tired of the tall breads). There are numerous ways to avoid the sticking issues other than your paddle waddle solution. Just do it! . . . 3. Are you saying that your machine has limitations to making healthier whole grain or nutrient dense breads because it will quicken the failure points of your mechanism? So your machines are only good for making light white bread or we will pay the constant price of repairs? I can buy white bread in my local local markets for less than what it costs me to make my own. Where is your logic? . . . 4. Bleeding your brand is not smart. Fix the problem. Don't be a Kodak in a changing world. I will return my machine till these issues are addressed. I do like your machine but what good is a luxury car that is unsafe and breaks down all the time? I will not feed my family, friends or myself a daily dose of aluminum to accumulate in my tissues and trust that these oxides and toxins will not be a problem. I also have a issue with your company's decision to extract an additional 'usage tax' with your engineered device failures. There are many other bread machines at a fraction of the cost (I can buy 4 or 5 others to your 1) or go to your direct competitor, Breville, if I want to spend this kind of money. *Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and also state that the average adult American eats 7-9 mg of aluminum per day.