Oster Rice Cooker Cannot Make as Many Cups of Rice as Advertised, Class Action Says

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The maker of the Oster six-cup rice cooker faces a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges consumers have been deceived as to how much rice the product can actually make at one time. 

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The 13-page lawsuit against manufacturer Sunbeam Products says that although consumers are led to believe the capacity of the Oster rice cooker (product no. 004722-000-000) is six eight-fluid-ounce cups of rice, the company does not conspicuously disclose that the device’s actual capacity measurement is based on one cup being equal to just 5.33 ounces of uncooked rice. In other words, the Oster rice cooker at issue, unbeknownst to consumers, is capable of cooking up to three full “rice cooker” Oster measuring cups of uncooked rice, or six 5.33-ounce Oster cups of cooked rice, the case specifies.

Per the lawsuit, this is disclosed only in the product’s user manual and one of five thumbnail images of the rice cooker on Amazon, which includes the caveat that the stated “6-Cup Cooked Rice Capacity*” is actually “Based on [a] 5.33 Ounce Cup.” 

“Based upon the common understanding of the word ‘cup’ with respect to quantity, i.e., an eight-fluid-ounce cup (a ‘Standard Cup’), [plaintiff] and at least a significant portion of the Class reasonably believed, prior to and up to the point of their purchase of the Rice Cooker, that the ‘Cup’ in the Rice Cooker Title (the ‘Rice Cooker Cup’) was a Standard Cup and that, therefore, the Rice Cooker’s capacity was six Standard Cups,” the suit reads. “...[I]t reasonably had not occurred to them that the Rice Cooker Cup might be smaller than a Standard Cup, such that, for them, the matter of the size of the Rice Cooker Cup did not call for further investigation.” 

According to the complaint, the true capacity of the Oster rice cooker is roughly 4.56 standard cups, less than the stated six-cup capacity. 

“If the Product Listing had conspicuously and accurately represented the Rice Cooker Capacity, the price of the Rice Cooker would have been less than what it actually was, and, therefore, the Class Members would have paid that lower amount,” the filing contends. 

The Oster lawsuit looks to cover all individuals nationwide who, during the relevant statute of limitations period, bought an Oster 6-Cup Rice Cooker with Steamer, Red, through its Amazon product listing. 

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