An EHO (Environmental Health Officer) visit is not a reason to panic — unless your cleaning supplies are disorganised, missing, or obviously inadequate. A well-stocked cleaning kit signals that your operation takes food safety seriously. A poorly stocked one raises questions about everything else.
Here's a practical checklist of what NZ cafes and restaurants should have on hand, organised by category.
Surface Cleaners and Sanitisers
Cleaning and sanitising are two different steps. Cleaning removes visible dirt and grease. Sanitising kills the pathogens that remain. In a food business, you need both — in that order.
- Food-safe multi-surface cleaner — for benches, equipment surfaces, and prep areas. Must be food-safe rated if used on food contact surfaces without rinsing.
- Food-safe sanitiser spray — applied after cleaning. Look for products with a listed efficacy against common pathogens (Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli). Quaternary ammonium or chlorine-based are the most common in NZ.
- Degreaser — for commercial kitchen surfaces, extractors, and fryer surrounds. Standard cleaners are not effective on heavy grease build-up.
- Toilet and bathroom cleaner — separate from kitchen products, clearly labelled and stored separately.
- Glass cleaner — for front-of-house glass, display cases, and mirrors.
Cloths and Wiping Materials
The colour-coded cloth system is now widely expected in NZ commercial food environments. The idea is simple: different colours for different zones prevent cross-contamination.
- Red cloths — raw meat areas only
- Blue cloths — general kitchen surfaces
- Green cloths — salad/vegetable prep areas
- Yellow cloths — bathroom and toilet cleaning
- White or grey — front-of-house, bar, tables
Microfibre cloths are preferable to cotton for most cleaning tasks — they pick up more bacteria and require less chemical product. Budget for enough cloths to rotate through the wash cycle. Running out mid-service leads to improvisation, which leads to cross-contamination.
Also stock: green scourers for non-scratch surfaces, steel wool pads for stubborn residue on appropriate surfaces, and single-use paper towels for high-touch surface wiping and hand drying (see the paper towels guide).
Mops and Floor Care
- Commercial mop and bucket — ideally a wringer bucket. String mops hold bacteria in the fibres; flat microfibre mop systems are more hygienic but require more initial investment.
- Separate mops for kitchen vs bathroom — clearly labelled and stored separately.
- Floor cleaner / degreaser — kitchen floors accumulate grease that standard floor cleaner won't shift.
- Dustpan and brush — for dry sweeping before mopping.
- Broom — long-handled, dedicated to your operation and not borrowed for outdoor use.
Dishwashing and Warewashing
- Commercial dish detergent — higher concentration than domestic products, formulated for continuous use.
- Rinse aid — reduces spotting and speeds drying in commercial dishwashers.
- Dishwasher detergent — the correct product for your machine type (powder, liquid, or tablet). Using the wrong product can damage the machine and affect wash performance.
- Pot scrubbers and sponges — replace regularly. A sponge that smells is a contamination source.
- Rubber gloves for dishwashing — separate from food-prep gloves, kept at the sink.
Bin Liners and Waste Management
Covered in more detail in the bin liners guide, but for your cleaning kit you need:
- Kitchen bin liners — correct gauge for your bin volume (heavy for commercial kitchen bins)
- Front-of-house bin liners — lighter gauge acceptable for lower-volume bins
- Recycling bags — if your operation has a recycling system
Personal Protective Equipment for Cleaning
- Heavy-duty rubber gloves — for chemical handling and bathroom cleaning. Not the same as food-prep nitrile gloves.
- Aprons — dedicated cleaning aprons separate from food prep aprons.
- Safety glasses or goggles — for handling concentrated chemicals or operating dishwashers with hot steam.
Hygiene Consumables for the Bathroom
EHOs check bathrooms. Specifically, they check that adequate handwashing facilities are available and stocked.
- Hand soap — liquid pump preferred over bar soap in commercial environments
- Paper towels — in the bathroom, paper towels are strongly preferred over hand dryers for food businesses (see the full paper towels vs hand dryers guide)
- Toilet paper — adequate stock, not rationed
- Toilet brush and holder — must be present and visibly in working condition
- Sanitary disposal unit — required in female or mixed-use bathrooms
Storage and Organisation
Cleaning products must be stored separately from food — this is a regulatory requirement, not just a recommendation. Ideally in a clearly labelled cupboard or cage. Chemical Safety Data Sheets (SDS) should be accessible for all products.
Label your cleaning products clearly if you're decanting into spray bottles. Using an unlabelled bottle is a compliance issue and a contamination risk if the contents are confused.