Zinc, pewter, copper and stainless bar tops

At a glance

Brass and bronze: see the patination and lacquered sheets. CCI: Canadian Conservation Institute notes on objects. The US article is a 2008 magazine piece on domestic countertops. No source tests these metals on a working bar.

What a bar top does to a metal

A bar top is the hardest-working horizontal surface in a hospitality interior. Forearms, rings and hands lie along the front edge, glasses leave wet rings across the middle, and the server side takes citrus, garnish, wine and vinegar, then a cleaning agent. Each metal meets those four stresses differently.

• Hands. Fingerprints carry moisture, salts and oils. On zinc they leave zinc chloride, which attracts moisture and etches the surface (CCI Notes 9/9). On bare copper and brass they mark the metal and start tarnish: see our high-touch finishes sheet. On stainless, what shows depends on the finish.
• Acids. Zinc dissolves easily in acids and acidic food can attack copper (Council of Europe, 2002). Stainless resists them, but chloride cleaners, hypochlorite bleach and concentrated salt and vinegar mixtures can stain or pit it (SSAS 7.20).
• Scratches. Zinc, copper and pewter are soft. Stainless is hard, but bright and mirror finishes scratch more easily, and patterned finishes tend to mask scratches (Euro Inox).
• Cleaning. Scouring powder, wire wool and chloride-containing cleaners damage stainless (Euro Inox, SSAS 7.20). Polishing zinc, copper or pewter removes patina and, because polishing is abrasive, some metal. Wax and lacquer change the look and have to be renewed or stripped: see lacquered against unlacquered brass and copper.

The honest answer to “what will it look like in two years?” is that we found no source that says, for any of these metals, on a working bar. One consumer pewter guide says a matte surface takes about a year to grey; the conservation notes describe the stages but give no timescale for a bar. Ask the partner for a sample that has been used the way the bar will be used, not a new one, and see patination of brass, bronze, copper and steel for the finish ladder. Cleaning agents for each finish are in cleaning and maintaining metal finishes.

The detail: skin, core, edge, seam and seal

A metal bar top is usually a thin skin of metal on a rigid core, not a slab of solid metal. Our sheet metal thickness sheet notes that brass and bronze worktops are often sheet wrapped over a moisture-resistant core, which supplies the rigidity. That puts the weak points at the bond, the edge, the corners, the seams and the joint to the wall. None of the sources we read sets a thickness or a construction for a bar top, so these are questions for the partner, not rules.

• Thickness and core. Ask for the metal thickness in millimetres, not a gauge number, and for the core material and thickness.
• Bond. Ask what bonds the skin to the core and whether the bond line is continuous, so that there is no air gap for liquid to reach.
• Edge. A wrapped edge keeps the cut edge of the core and the bond line out of the zone where forearms and spills land. Ask for the radius and for how the wrap ends underneath.
• Corners. Welded and ground, folded, or soldered: the metals differ. A US article says zinc seams are welded and ground flush but often show because sheets vary in colour, and that pewter has to be soldered, not welded.
• Seams. Sheet sizes are limited, and the same US article gives about 120 by 39 inches (about 3,050 by 990 mm) as the usual largest zinc sheet. Ask where seams fall and how they are finished, and settle it on the drawing.
• Seal. Ask what seals the top to the back wall and to any return, so that liquid does not run into the joint.
• Heat. The US article advises trivets for zinc. We found no heat limit for any of the four, so ask.
• Movement and fixings. A long top moves with temperature: see thermal expansion of metals (zinc is not tabulated there because the values we met conflict). Keep dissimilar metals apart: see galvanic corrosion.

Food contact: what we read, and what it leaves open

We read the documents in the table and found no food-contact rule written specially for metals in England. The general duty in Article 3(1) applies to anything that comes within Article 1(2), and Annex I names metals and alloys as a group that may one day be given specific measures. The Council of Europe guidance for metals is not legally binding (Euro Inox's 2014 summary); we read the 2002 text, which has since been replaced.

Reading it for a bar

• Is the top a food-contact surface? That depends on use, and the operator and the environmental health officer decide it, not us. A top where plates, bar snacks or raw shellfish go straight onto the metal can reasonably be expected to meet food. A top that only takes closed bottles and glasses is a different question.
• Zinc. The Council of Europe text says zinc should not be used in contact with wet or humid acidic food. Citrus, wine and vinegar are acidic. If food is to sit on the top, zinc points the wrong way; a board or plate between the two is the usual answer.
• Copper. Acidic food can attack bare copper. The Council of Europe text recommends no restriction for copper with a tin, stainless steel or other suitable covering, so a bare, polished copper top and a coated one are different cases.
• Pewter. BS EN 611-1 sets the composition of pewter alloys, including solders for pewterware that may meet food, and BSI lists it as current. Ask for the alloy certificate and the solder, because the Council of Europe text notes that pewter can release lead.
• Stainless steel. Euro Inox says all stainless families may be used for food contact, and that release limits apply to every constituent element, not only chromium, nickel, iron and molybdenum. Its 2014 summary gives limits from the 2013 edition. A second edition was reported in August 2024 with some limits changed; we did not read it, so we quote no figures.
• Wax, lacquer, adhesive and sealant. Annex I lists varnishes and coatings and waxes alongside metals, so a finish on a surface that may meet food belongs in the same conversation. Ask what is on the face and whether its maker says it is suitable for food contact.
• Cleaning. The hygiene regulation asks for equipment that can be kept clean and, where necessary, disinfected. Ask the partner which disinfectants the finish tolerates: the sources we read say bleach and chlorides harm stainless, and we found nothing on disinfectants for zinc, copper or pewter.
• Antimicrobial claims. Consumer and trade articles call copper and pewter “antimicrobial” or “antibacterial”. We found no document that supports a hygiene benefit for a bar top, and this sheet claims none. HSE says extra labelling applies when a business claims an article has biocidal properties, such as “preserved” or “gives protection against”. If a supplier makes the claim, ask for its regulatory basis.

Choosing, and what to write

These are the studio's readings of the sources, not tested results. Use them to start the conversation with the client and the partner.

• Food straight on the top, or a look that must stay as installed: stainless steel, in a finish that hides marks. Pick the finish from stainless finish codes and the grade from 304 against 316.
• Warmth and age, and a client who accepts marks: zinc, copper or pewter as a living finish, with a board or plate under food, a care card, and the client's signed acceptance.
• Pewter is the softest of the four, so think about where hands and glasses land before using it on a busy front edge. See bar counter and stool heights for the dimensions around the top.

The wording below asks the partner to put the alloy, the construction, the finish and the food-contact position in writing, and asks the client to accept a living finish in writing.

Bar top finish: [zinc / copper / pewter / stainless steel grade 304 or 316], [  ] mm finished thickness, alloy and composition stated in writing by the supplier with [an alloy or mill certificate], bonded to [moisture-resistant board, [  ] mm] with [adhesive stated by the fabricator], continuous bond line. Edge: [wrapped, radius [  ] mm]. Corners: [welded and ground flush / folded / soldered]. Seams: [none / at the positions on drawing [  ]], finished [as stated]. Joint to the back wall and to any return sealed with [sealant stated by the fabricator]. Thickness, core, bond, edge, corners and seams to be shown on the shop drawing and approved before manufacture.

[Zinc / copper / pewter] is a living finish. The client accepts that it will darken, mark and show use, that rings, scratches and etching from acids are part of its character, and that it will not stay as the approved sample. Routine care: [soft cloth, mild detergent, water, dry]. Acids (citrus, vinegar, wine), abrasives and [chloride-containing cleaners] are to be kept off or wiped at once. A care card is issued at handover. Accepted by [name], [date].

The supplier is to state in writing: (a) whether the surface is intended or suitable for direct contact with food; (b) the composition of the metal and of any solder, adhesive, sealant, wax or lacquer on a surface that may meet food; (c) the basis on which it meets Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 as it applies in [England]; (d) the cleaning and disinfecting agents it tolerates. The operator is to confirm the intended use of the top with the local authority's environmental health officer before opening. No antimicrobial or hygienic benefit is to be claimed for the surface.

Before production the partner is to make a [300 by 300] mm sample of the approved metal, finish and edge. [Name] is to approve it after it has been treated as the care card describes and with [lemon juice, wine, the named cleaning agent and the base of a glass] as agreed with the partner. The approved sample is kept as the reference.

Standards and sources

• Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 as retained in UK law; SI 2012/2619 regulation 4; Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 Annex II: read on legislation.gov.uk, latest available (revised).
• Council of Europe, Guidelines on metals and alloys used as food contact materials, technical document, 13 February 2002: read; superseded. The 2013 resolution and 2024 second edition were not read: confirm the current text.
• Euro Inox, Council of Europe Guidelines in a nutshell (2014); Euro Inox Building Series Vol. 15 (2011); BSSA SSAS 7.20 (2001): read.
• BS EN 611-1:1996, pewter: BSI listing read: current. Text not read.
• HSE, Treated articles (updated 14 April 2026); CCI Notes 9/9, Care of Objects Made of Zinc (2007): read.

Questions we are asked

Is zinc safe for a bar top?

No document we read says zinc cannot be used, and we found no food-contact rule written for metals in England: the general duty in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 applies to anything that can reasonably be expected to meet food. The Council of Europe's 2002 guidance says zinc is easily dissolved by acids and should not be used in contact with wet or humid acidic food, and a bar is full of citrus, wine and vinegar. Keep food off bare zinc, and ask the supplier and the environmental health officer.

Will a zinc or pewter bar top scratch and stain?

Yes. Both are soft, and a US building article calls pewter the softest of the metals it compared. Zinc darkens to a grey oxide indoors and its patina is etched by fingerprints and acids (CCI Notes 9/9). Light marks can be polished out and the patina allowed to return, but polishing removes patina, so the repaired patch will differ. Get the client to accept this in writing.

Is copper antimicrobial, and can we say so on the drawings?

We found no document that supports a hygiene benefit for a copper bar top, and this sheet claims none. Consumer articles repeat it. HSE says extra labelling applies when a business claims an article has biocidal properties, so a supplier who makes the claim should give its regulatory basis. Leave it out of the specification.

Is stainless steel always the safer choice?

It is the hardest of the four and does not patinate, and Euro Inox says all stainless families may be used for food contact. It still needs the right finish, because bright and mirror finishes scratch more easily, and the right care: chloride cleaners and hypochlorite bleach stain and pit it, and concentrated salt and vinegar may pit it over time (SSAS 7.20).

How thick should the metal be?

No source we read gives a thickness for a bar top. The partner should state the thickness in millimetres, the core and the bond on the shop drawing. A thin skin on a rigid core is the usual construction, as our sheet metal thickness sheet explains; do not specify a gauge number.

Can a lacquer or wax make zinc or copper food-safe?

We cannot say. Annex I of Regulation 1935/2004 lists waxes and varnishes and coatings as groups that may have specific measures, so a coating on a surface that may meet food belongs in the same conversation. Ask the supplier whether the coating's maker says it is suitable for food contact, and how long it lasts under cleaning. Wax and lacquer both need upkeep: see the lacquered and unlacquered sheet.