The coffee chain store Starbucks would recall 3,000 coffee grinders in China, as faulty grinders might fail to turn off or turn on unexpectedly, posing a laceration hazard to consumers, the country's quality regulator said Thursday.

The Starbucks Barista blade grinders and Seattle's Best Coffee blade grinders were sold at Starbucks stores from March 2002 through March of this year, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.

Starbucks had received 176 reports of grinders that failed to turn off or turned on unexpectedly, including three reports of hand lacerations that occurred when the grinders turned on unexpectedly during cleaning, the company said in a statement.

It said it would offer refunds for the recalled grinders and destroy them.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2009)