The Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Jounal: Established 1875. SATURDAY, DEC. 1, 1883. THE ADULTERATION PREVENTION ACT, 1883.

Manawatu Times, Volume IX, Issue 1116, 1 December 1883, Page 2

The Daily Times. The Oldest Manawatu Jounal: Established 1875. SATURDAY, DEC. 1, 1883. THE ADULTERATION PREVENTION ACT, 1883.

The above measure comes into operation tosday, and m view of this a brief summitry of its provisions wiljl not be out of place. The first three sections are merely forma,}. Section 4 provides that " no baker or seller of oread shall make, sell, or offer for sale any bread not made up into French loaves or batph loaves of two, four, six, or eight pounds m weight respectively," under a penalty not exceeding £5. The Act is not tp apply to "the class of bread known as fancy bread," but there is no definitions of the term "fancy bread," and m lesponse to an anxious en<quiry under this head, certain members of the baker's fraternity haye been ; referred , by .. Government tp their solicitors. The sixth sees fton provides that every loaf must be stamped with tb.e initials of the baker, and -also with figures or fig* uresand letters indicating the weight of inch lbaf. The r initials ar^'to -be stampe^ m Ro&an letters, and the; figures m Arabic numerals.,' each an ijaphj lqng-at the time^, of stampings ano. 1 every person baking •pr permit" j ting to be baked any such loaf with-. |ont having stamped it 6r caased it •4 be fetaipped is liable •to a penalty, not exceeding* '£0. ! < A sinlilar n>n;--alty.iß irapo|ed upouany p^pn op> fering unstamped bread for sale, Provision is made for inspectors to be appointed by tne lopal authority ,arid power isgiven to such 'inspeclib'rs'to' inspect all bread offered for sale or 4$ ot delivery to customers '

■within the limit of his distriot, and to weigh the same. The penalty for selling bread which proves to be defin cienfc m weight is a sum not exceeding £5, but bo baker or seller of bread is liable to this penalty m respect of any stale bread, which is defined to mean "all bread that may have been manufactured for a period of twenty- four hours and upwards. He is however bound to make ap any deficiency m the weight of sach stale bread under a penalty of £5. A penalty not exceeding £10 nor less tjan £2 is to be imposed upon any person wilfully resisting, impeding, or obstructing any inspector m the lawful execution of his duty. Section 18 provides that any purchaser of an article of food or a drng m any place shall be entitled on payment of a prescribed fee to have the article analysed by an analyst appointed under the Act, and if after such analysis it shall appear tbat an offence has been committed against the Act he may take i all proceedings necessary for the prosecution of the offender. An inspector may also procure samples for analysis, and any person re« fusing to supply them on tbe price being tendered is liable to a penalty not exceeding LlO. In any prosecution against the owner of any food or drug exposed far sale or on sale by retail m any premises &c, for an offence under the Act, it is made sufficient to show that the application was made to any servant or perßon employed by such owner, or m charge of sucli food or drug. Sections 17 and 18 define the method to be followed by the Inspector m having tbe samples analysed. Section 20 relates to the inspection of imported wines or Bpiritß, which if, after analysis m the prescribed manner, are found to be adulterated, may, be destroyed. The Inspector may also take samples of milk m course of delivery for analysis, and any person obstructing the Inspector m this respect is liable to a penalty not exceeding LlO. In determining whether an offence has been coin* mitted by selling, to the prejudice of the pui chaser, spirits not adulterated otherwise than by the ad» mixture of water, the Act provides that it shall be a good defence to prove that such admixture has not reduced the spirit more than 25 degrees under proof for brandy, whisky, or rum, or 35 degrees under proofs for gin. An article shall be deemed tc be adulterated within the meaning of the Act if any sub* stance has been, mixed with it so as to reduce or injuruously affect its quality, strength, purity or true value; if any inferior or cheaper substance has been substituted wholly or m part for the article ; if any valuable constituent has been wholly or m part abstracted ; if it be an imitation of, or be sold under the name of another article ; if it consist wholly or m part of a deceased, decomposed putrid or rotten animal or vegetable substance, whether manufactured or not, or m the case of milk, if it is the produce of a diseased animal : if it be coloured, coated, polished, or powdered, whereby damage is con* cealed, or it is made to appear better than it really is, or of greater value j if it contain any added ingredient, or any ingredient which may render such article injurious to the health of a person consuming it. It is also provided that the following articles shall not exceed or be less m strength, weight, quality, quantity, or other requirements as the case may be s — Milk shall contain not less than 90 per cent by weight of milk solids, not fat, and not less than 2.5 per cent of butter fat. Skim milk shall contain not less than 9.0 per cent by weight of milk solids, not fat. Butter shall contain not less than 80.0 per cent of butter fat. Tea shall contain not more than 8.0 per cent of mineral matter, calculated on tbe the dried at 1000 C, .of which at least 3 per cent shall be soluble m water, and the tea as sold shall yield at least 3o per cent of extract.. Cocoa shall. contain at leasi 20 per cent of cccoa fat. Vinegar shall contain not less than 3.0 per cent, of acetic acid. The foregoing are the main features of an Act, which if intelligently worked, should prove bene* ficial m its operation to the pu blic at large, though itis to be regretted that m some particulars it is very vague.