Food Equipment Standards — A Year in Review

Standards are regularly revised to ensure that they meet industry needs, reflect good practice, and keep people, products and processes safe. In 2022, seven NSF food equipment standards were updated.

These were discussed at NSF’s Joint Committee Meeting on Food Equipment Standards, held last October at the NSF head office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was the first time the Joint Committee had met in person for over three years. At the meeting, panel discussions took place on topics including the vision for food equipment standards and the Joint Committee in the 2030s, and the CDC delivered a presentation on food equipment standards and outbreak prevention.

Here is summary of the updates to NSF food equipment standards made in 2022. (Please see the foreword to each standard for a complete list of updates.)

• Updated to encompass glass and glasslike tableware, including beverage ware, dinnerware and flatware. Requirements were added to sections 4.8, 5.62, 6.4 and 6.5.
• Thermometer requirements in sections 5.46 and 6.3 were expanded to include the criteria for warewashing and hot food holding thermometers, which align with criteria currently found in NSF/ANSI 3 and NSF/ANSI 4 for these thermometer types.
• Wood scraper requirements were added as section 4.5.2 to establish new criteria to permit the use of wood as a material for the construction scrapers intended specifically for scraping grill and charbroiler grates.
• Language in section 6.2 was revised to clarify ratings of the load cells that may be used for testing.

Learn more about the latest update here.

• Revisions were made to sections 6.1.1.2 and 6.2.4.2 to allow flexibility for alternate-sized test wares to accommodate machines with spatial constraints.
• Section 6.1.2.2 was revised to allow fewer glasses to be used in test patterns for machines specifically designed to operate with smaller-than-standard rack sizes.
• Section 6.2.2.2 was added to permit testing of hot water sanitizing glass-washing machines.
• Section 7.2.3 was revised to provide additional options for chemical sanitizer solutions.
• Editorial changes to the boilerplate language in Section 2, Normative References, were made to be consistent with other NSF/ANSI food equipment standards.

• The term “potentially hazardous food” was revised to “time/temperature control for safety food(s)” in Sections 7.2, 9.13 and 9.14 in order to align with previous terminology changes in the FDA Food Code.
• New language regarding labeling requirements for remote storage refrigerators was added as section 6.9.2.1 to permit operation in various ambient temperatures other than 100° F (38° C).
• New language has been added as section 9.1.5 to permit the use of uncoated brass on handles and latches for self-service display refrigerators.
• Editorial changes to the boilerplate language in section 2, Normative References, were made to be consistent with other NSF/ANSI food equipment standards.

• This revision modifies the word “must” to “shall” in Normative Annexes 1 and 2.
• ANSI requirements for normative standard language state that the word “shall” is to be used for requirements of the standard.
• Editorial changes to the boilerplate language in Section 2, Normative References, were made to be consistent with other NSF/ANSI food equipment standards.

• The language previously included as a note under Section 5.4.2 has been designated as Section 5.4.3. Removing the note makes this a normative requirement rather than informative.
• A new Section 5.6 has added marking requirements for thermoplastic refuse containers certified for indoor use only.
• Editorial changes to the boilerplate language in Section 2, Normative References, were made to be consistent with other NSF/ANSI food equipment standards.

• Clarification of the glass requirements has been included in section 4.2.4.4, indicating the original intent that the glass meeting the applicable impact requirement be representative of the glass used on the end product.
• Sections 4.2.5.1 for wood and 4.2.4 for glass and glasslike materials have been updated to align with the recent updates to NSF/ANSI 2.
• Editorial changes to the boilerplate language in Section 2, Normative References, were made to be consistent with other NSF/ANSI food equipment standards.

• This revision adds new definitions for the terms “potable water” and “potable ice.” It includes new terms that will be used in the next edition of NSF/ANSI 25 - Vending Machines for Food and Beverages.

NSF clients can access updated versions of the standards relating to their certifications in NSF Connect.

It’s important to note that revisions to standards do not always impact certified products. If an updated version of a standard impacts certified products, an NSF account manager will contact all clients affected by the change.