When you’re buying a high-performance blender or other restaurant equipment, you care about how much it costs. You care about how easy it is to operate and how long the warranty lasts. You probably don’t care about all the mysterious agency certifications it has: NSF, ETL, UL… Should you?
Yes. For one, health inspectors look at these marks. They want proof that your kitchen equipment is certified to be sanitary and safe. Also, certified foodservice equipment is better for your bottom line: more durable, safer for employees to use, and easier to clean so your risk of foodborne illness is decreased. But restaurant equipment certifications can be cryptic and confusing. There’s a lot of overlap between them, yet standards recognized in the United States may not count elsewhere in the world.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know.
