Foodservice Equipment Certifications
Have you ever been searching for equipment and ran across those small symbols such as the ones listed below? What do these mean, and why are they so important? These are excellent questions, considering many people, especially those who are new to the industry, may not realize the importance of these symbols. These small icons represent information about sanitation, safety, and even energy efficiency. Armed with knowledge about the meanings of these symbols, business owners can make an educated decision about products that'll greatly impact their business. This guide will provide the certification name, the symbol you'll see, and the description of the symbol.
NSF
This unmistakable blue dot indicates that the particular piece of equipment you're looking at has been certified by the NSF, or National Safety Foundation, as meeting international commercial food equipment standards. The NSF evaluates each product through strict testing until they're confident that the equipment should be certified as safe. As part of the certification process, the production facility is audited annually. This audit assures that all the requirements of the standard continue to be met, quality assurance, and quality control procedures are followed in fabrication, products are sampled and retested on schedule, and labeling and product literature are true and accurate.
cNSFus
The cNSFus mark attests that a product has been certified to meet both Canadian and U.S. requirements. NSF's certification programs are accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) as meeting the requirements that demonstrate NSF's ability to certify products against applicable Canadian standards.
UL
The UL listing symbol means that UL found that representative samples of this product met UL's safety requirements. These requirements are primarily based on UL's own published Standards for Safety.
C-UL
The C-UL listing mark is applied to products for the Canadian market. The products marked with this symbol have been evaluated to Canadian safety requirements, which may be somewhat different from U.S. safety requirements.
C-UL US
This symbol was introduced in early 1998 to indicate compliance with both Canadian and U.S. standards.
UL Gas-fired
The UL Gas-fired listing mark is used exclusively on gas-fired appliances and equipment. The Gas-fired mark indicates a product's compliance to nationally recognized gas standards, including UL, ANSI Z21/Z83 Series and CSA/CGA standards. The Gas-fired mark signals that a product has been evaluated to reasonably foreseeable hazards, including both gas and electrical hazards.
C-UL Gas-fired
The C-UL listing mark is applied to products for the Canadian market. These products have been evaluated and determined to meet the Canadian safety requirements, which are somewhat different from the U.S. standards.
C-UL US Gas-fired
This symbol is placed on gas-fired equipment that has been evaluated to meet both Canadian and U.S. safety standards.
UL-EPH
The UL-EPH symbol appears on products that have been evaluated to the Environmental and Public Health Standards. The "classified" version is used for products complying with ANSI/NSF Standards and other food equipment hygiene codes and requirements. Examples include Food Service and Meat and Poultry Plant Equipment and Drinking Water Additives.
UL-EPH Listed
The UL-EPH Listed mark is generally used for products complying with UL's own published EPH Standards for Safety.
UL Food Service Product Certification
The UL Food Service Product Certification mark appears on food service equipment that UL has evaluated for sanitation hazards. This type of equipment includes gas and electrically powered food service products as well as items without a power sourced such as plastics. These products are commonly found in commercial food establishments, institutional food services, and other locations.
CE
The CE symbol placed on a product means that the manufacturer or person placing the product on the market or putting it into service claims that the unit meets all essential requirements of the relevant European Directive.
CSA
The CSA mark, without any other indicators, means that the product is certified primarily for the Canadian market, to the applicable Canadian standards. If a product has features from more than one area, the mark indicates compliance to all applicable standards.
CSA US or NRTL
The CSA US or NRTL marks indicate that the product is certified for the U.S. market to the applicable U.S. standards. If a product has features from more than one area, the mark indicates compliance to all applicable standards.
CSA mark with C/US or NRTL/C
The CSA mark with C/US or NRTL/C means that the product is certified for both the U.S. and Canadian markets, to the applicable American and Canadian standards. If a product has features from more than one area, the mark indicates compliance to all applicable standards.
ETL Listed
A product bearing the ETL Listed mark is determined to have met the minimum requirements of prescribed product safety standards. The mark also indicates that the manufacturer's production site conforms to a range of compliance measures and is subject to periodic follow-up inspections to verify continued conformance. The ETL Listed mark is used on electrical and gas- and oil-fired products.
The ETL Listed mark is the legal equivalent of the UL Listed and CSA Listed Marks throughout the United States and Canada.
ETL US Listed
A product bearing the ETL Listed mark with the "US" identifier at the 4 o'clock position has been tested and deemed compliant to the U.S. product safety standards only. An ETL Listed mark with a "C" identifier at the 8 o'clock position means the product bearing it complies with Canadian product safety standards only. An ETL Listed mark with both "US" and "C" identifiers at the 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock positions respectively, signifies that the product bearing the mark complies with both U.S. and Canadian product safety standards.
ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR is a joint agency program supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions, making it easy to save money while protecting the environment for future generations.
ARI Performance Certified
The ARI Performance Certified mark is the most trusted mark of performance assurance for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and commercial refrigeration equipment. Products earning the mark undergo rigorous, independent annual evaluation to ensure that they perform according to the manufacturers' published claims. Certifying HVACR equipment and component performance enables consumers to compare products based on independently verified performance ratings.