NSF stands for the National Sanitation Foundation, now known as NSF International. It is a global organization that develops public health standards and certification programs to ensure the safety and quality of products and systems. NSF certification is widely recognized in various industries, including food service, water filtration, and consumer goods..
In most cases, espresso grinders do not need NSF approvals, unless the ground coffee is actually being served raw. If used with an espresso machine that is NSF approved, then we have seen the grinders do not need to be NSF approved. However, every health department is different in requirements. Hence, we suggest you write via snail mail or email to your local health department with an inquiry if the espresso grinder requires NSF and only allow them to put a response in writing. We have found that one inspector in a health department may allow the non-NSF grinders while another inspector may be more stringent in their requirements.
Espresso grinders with NSF will usually be priced much higher as the testing labs can charge in upwards of $30,000 plus a unit fee for each label with the NSF emblem.
On our web site, we will post NSF in the description or specifications on grinders that have the NSF approval. For those grinders that do not have NSF approvals, there will be no reference on the product page. The same goes for espresso machines.