NSF certification

NSF certification means a piece of food equipment has been tested and listed as meeting an NSF/ANSI sanitation standard, covering things like cleanable surfaces and safe materials. Health departments use it to tell commercial food equipment from household products.

The NACCHO best-practices factsheet lists ANSI/NSF approved equipment as a plan review item, and Maricopa County, Arizona requires all equipment on a mobile unit to be commercial and NSF/ANSI approved. Food-grade hoses for filling the water tank often need to meet NSF standards as well.

Check the listing on each spec sheet before you buy, and record make and model numbers, since plan reviewers often ask for them. The food truck equipment list covers what to buy.