NSF is a public health nonprofit organization. Written by employees of the National Sanitation Foundation. headquartered in Ann Arbor Charter Township, Michigan, United States. It tests and certifies foods, water, and consumer products. It also facilitates the development of standards for these products, labeling products it has certified to meet these standards with the NSF mark.
NSF is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Standards Council of Canada.
History NSF was founded in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation by the University of Michigan School of Public Health, in an attempt to standardize requirements around sanitation and food safety. The first standards developed by the NSF set sanitation requirements on soda fountain and luncheonette equipment.
Acquisitions In October 2002, NSF acquired FreshCheck, a food microbiological and sanitation audit company.
In March 2004, NSF acquired Quality Assurance International.
In January 2013, NSF acquired INASSA Group, a Lima, Peru-based company in the industry of quality control, analytical testing, and inspection for seafood.
In October 2025, NSF acquired Cambium Analytica, an analytical testing and development company in the food, beverage, and diet supplement industries.
Certification
NSF certifies food equipment, including food preparation and dispensing equipment, ice makers, refrigerators and freezers, dishwashing sinks, vending machines, mobile food carts, and service counters. These certifications are widely recognized internationally.
NSF's Food division also certifies the gluten-freeness and other similar characteristics of products, as well as certifying bottled water and packaged ice.
NSF also certifies dietary supplements through a standard it facilitated the development of adopted by ANSI (NSF/American National Standards Institute Standard 173), testing for safe levels of contaminants and that the ingredients on supplements match their labels. it competed in this with the United States Pharmacopeia certification mark.
NSF also develops standards for and certifies water quality. As of 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on drinking water contaminants based on standards set by the NSF.
NSF Consumer Products Division tests and certifies consumer products and appliances used in and around the home.
Laboratories NSF maintains laboratories in North America, South America, Europe and China. NSF's laboratories are accredited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. NSF laboratories are ISO 17025 certified (testing and calibration).
The chairman of the Board of Directors, is the retired Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice President of the McDonald's Corporation.https://www.nsf.org/about-nsf/board-directors NSF Board of Directors, retrieved February 12, 2025 And since March 2022, the President and chief executive officer is Pedro Sancha, formerly of Ecolab and Shell.
References