Toilet or storeroom?

EHO Story 📩

I was in a café one day.

Nothing unusual.

I had a coffee, sat for a bit, then headed to the toilet before I left.

Standard behaviour.

No surprises expected.

When I opened the door, though, I paused.

The customer toilet was also being used to store stock 👀

Paper cups.

Food packaging.

Items patiently waiting to be used for the next round of coffees.

I looked again.

Still the toilet.

Space was clearly tight. You could see how it had happened.

A delivery arrives. Service is busy. Someone thinks, “That’ll do for now.”

Maybe they’d got a discount for buying in bulk.

Maybe the stock was on offer.

Either way, more had arrived than there was space for.

Standing there as a customer, it’s one of those moments where your brain quietly goes, “Hmm.”

Because toilets aren’t just another spare room.

They’re places where you really don’t want food packaging hanging around, no matter how tidy it looks.

These situations rarely start as a big decision.

They start as a workaround.

Just for now.

Just until later.

Just until someone remembers it’s there.

And then, one day, a customer opens the door 👀

Food Safety Tip ✅

Customer toilets should never be used to store anything that will later be used for food service.

That includes:

• Cups
• Lids
• Packaging
• Disposable items
• Food items

Even if they’re boxed.

Even if the toilet “isn’t used much”.

Even if space is at a premium.

If it’s going near food, or a customer’s mouth, it needs to be stored somewhere designed for that purpose.

The Serious Lesson 💡

Most food safety problems don’t come from people being careless. They come from pressure. Limited space. Busy services. Deliveries turning up at exactly the wrong moment.

Temporary fixes have a habit of becoming permanent if no one stops to question them. The real skill is catching these workarounds early and asking, “Is this actually okay?”

This Week’s Action 🔍

Take a quick look around your premises.

• Check that food, cups, lids and packaging are stored in suitable areas.
• Look for anything that’s been put somewhere temporarily and never moved.
• If you spot a problem, find a suitable alternative and make sure your team knows where those items should be stored.