NSF Certified Engineered Quartz

The majority of the engineered quartz manufacturers have applied for NSF certification, so why is this important? NSF stands for National Sanitation Foundation, a non profit organization which helps certify and create standards for food, water and other consumer goods. It’s an independent organization with a commitment to provide education and research in the public health and safety fields.

Due to the fact that most engineered quartz applications are directly for kitchen countertop use, it has been of the utmost importance to certify it regarding  consumer health and safety. So we have seen gradually every engineered quartz producer certifying their products with NSF certification.

NSF certification is physically noticed through a mark, due to the large range of products that may be certified its very common to find it in many, consumer, industrial and commercial products. So many products are subject to this certification, from bottled water, appliances, plumbing to kitchen countertops. The NSF certification mark is an assurance that the product has been tested by an independent entity, that certifies it as a safe product to use which regards to your family health and safety.

On their website you may confirm the product tested, I ran a search for Silestone products and it returned a full list of colours that have been tested by NSF. So the product itself was certified as a solid surface for food zone use and the standard applied was the NSF/ANSI Standard 051 –Food Equipment Materials. The results also specify that all food contact types were tested and the maximum temperature in use is F 300º. It is also added that this product can be used with a leather finish, and is intended to be used as a table or countertop, and is not intended for food conservation.

So basically the NSF certification defines the type of use a product may have when in contact with food in this case, which assures the end user that the product is safe and healthy for the approved application.

So if you are buying a kitchen countertop, the NSF certification may be an important thing to view, being that most manufacturers do have it, I believe that some products with shadier origins may have difficulty in attaining such a certification.