NSF International has launched HCV EU (HACCP Compliance Verification) — a new HACCP compliance verification service for the European Union commercial food equipment market. This is the first compliance verification program to cover hygienic quality of commercial food equipment following European guidelines and legislation.
Compliance to HCV EU enables manufacturers to demonstrate their commitment to food safety and the highest standards of quality.
HCV EU also offers specifiers, including U.S.-based restaurant chains and retailers, the ability to define basic principles of food safety and translate them into equipment requirements. They can then check for these requirements that cover hygienic quality when buying and selecting commercial food equipment, helping to minimize risks such as food contamination, food poisoning, and an unhygienic environment.
“We receive an increasing amount of questions from many groups of stakeholders including the European food equipment manufacturers, as well as from specifiers, retailers, and restaurant groups specifying and buying commercial food equipment,” NSF International Unit Manager Food Equipment Europe Ann Willems said. “All groups are looking for ways to demonstrate and verify compliance with HACCP principles as well as European legislation and guidelines. NSF International’s HCV EU verification now provides these companies the ability to demonstrate their commitment to food safety.”
The HCV EU program is based on existing European legislation and regulations such as EC 1935/2004 for food contact materials and EN 1672-2 — the European standard that establishes a general code of practice for cleanable design. These programs, along with HACCP principles and NSF International’s knowledge of food safety, enabled the development of a risk-based approach to verify the design and cleanability aspects of commercial food equipment. The result is a very practical service, offering an independent third-party compliance verification of equipment to manufacturers.
HCV EU covers: food contact materials, cleanability and hygienic design, and, if applicable, equipment performance such as the capability to hold food at safe temperatures and to verify the efficiency of cleaning in place — the automatic cycle to clean and sanitize closed and pressurized inaccessible systems.
HCV EU will offer a publicly available online listing of registered equipment, showing which aspects are covered by the compliance verification.