Manufacturers, regulators and consumers look to NSF International for the development of public health standards and certification programs that help protect the world’s food, water, consumer products and environment. Our mission is to protect and improve global human health. As an independent, accredited organization, our standards group facilitates the development of standards, and our service groups test and certify products and systems. We also provide auditing and risk management solutions for public health and the environment.

Founded in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation, we changed our name to NSF International in 1990 as we expanded our services beyond sanitation and into global markets. The letters in our organization's name do not represent any specific words today. 

Mission 

NSF International is dedicated to being the leading global provider of public health and safety-based risk management solutions while serving the interests of all stakeholders, namely the public, the business community and government agencies. Our mission is carried out by over 2,700 global employees, including microbiologists, toxicologists, chemists, engineers, and environmental and public health professionals. 

Values 

When it comes to our people and the way we work, we possess seven core values. We demand the highest ethics and integrity from our professionals. We operate using sound scientific principles. We respect and care for each other. We promote personal and professional growth. We foster innovation and creativity. We demonstrate social and environmental responsibility. And finally, we are committed to winning and being the best.

Our History

Our beginning: NSF International was founded in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation. Using a transparent, consensus-based process, we developed our first standards for the sanitation of soda fountain and luncheonette equipment in the early 1950s. This became the process by which we develop all of our public health and safety standards.

Our name: As we expanded services beyond sanitation and into global markets, we changed our name to NSF International in 1990. The letters NSF honor our original name. 

Our process: To develop uniform, consensus-based national standards, we bring together regulators, industry, consumers and public health experts. Our scientists, engineers and public health professionals test to these standards or protocols.

We have more than 70 currently active public health and safety American National Standards and over 70 active protocols for appliances, food equipment, drinking water filters and other products. Products that meet these standards bear the NSF mark. 

NSF International has a professional staff of engineers, microbiologists, toxicologists, chemists, public health experts and certification specialists in locations worldwide. NSF technical experts are available for media interviews and to speak at conferences, schools and other organizational events on a wide variety of public health-related topics. 

NSF laboratories provide a wide range of testing, certification and technical services as well as human health risk assessments across all major industries. We operate more than 305,000 square feet of ISO/IEC 17025-accredited, state-of-the-art labs, including extensive instrumentation and technologies, in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.