SALE OF FOODS AND DRUGS ORDINANCE, 1896

SALE OF FOODS AND DRUGS ORDINANCE, 1896

no. 8 of 1896.

an ordinance to make better provision for the sale of food
and drugs in a pure state. [19th august, 1896]

1. this ordinance may be cited as the sale of food and
drugs ordinance, 1896.

2. in this ordinance,
(a) drug includes medicine for internal or external use.
(b) food includes every food or article used for food or
drink by man, other than drugs or water.

3. every person who-
(1) mixes, colours, stains, or powders, or orders or permits
any other person to mis, colour, stain, or powder,
(a) any article of food with any ingredient or material so
as to render the article injurious to health, or
(b) any drug with any ingredient or material so as to affect
injuriously the quality or potency of such drug,
with intent that the same may be sold in that state; or
(2) sells any such article or drug so mixed, coloured,
stained, or powdered,

as amended by law rev. ord., 1923.





shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceed-
ing five hundred dollars:

Provided that no person shall be liable to be convieted
mider this section in respect of the sale of any article of food
or of any drug if he shows, to the satisfaction of the magis-
trate, that he did not know that the article of food or drug
sold by him was so mixed, coloured, stained, or powdered,
and that he could not with reasonabloe diligence have obtained
that knowledge.

[ss. 4 and 5, incorporated in s. 3 by No. 2 of 19.12.]

6. every person who sells, to the prejudice of the pruchaser,
any article of food or any drug which is not of the nature,
substance, or quality of the article demanded by such
pruchaser shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine
not exceeding two hundred dollars: provided that an offence
shall not be deemed to be committed under this section in
the following cases:

(1) where any matter or ingredient not injurious to health
has been added to the food or drug because the same is
required for the production or preparation thereof as an
article of commerce, in a state fit for carriage or consumption,
and not fraudulently to increase the bulk, weight, or measure
of the food or drug or to conceal the inferior quality thereof:

(2) where the drug or food is a proprietary medicine, or is
the subject of a patent in forcem and is supplied in the state
required by the specification of the patent; and

(3) where the food or drug is unavoidably mixed with some
extraneous matter in the process of collection or preparation.

7. in any prosecution under this ordinance for selling, to
the projudice of the purchaser, any article of food or any
drug which is not of the nature, substance, and quality of the
article demanded by such purchaser, it shall be no defence
to allege that the pruchaser, having bought only for analysis.
was not prejudiced by such sale. Neither shall it be a good
defence to prove that the article of food or drug in question,
though defective in nature, or in substance, or in quality,
was not fefective in all these respects.

as amended by law rev. ord., 1923.






8. Every person who sells any compound article of food
or compounded drug which is not composed of ingredients
in accordance with the demand of the purchaser shall upon
summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding two
hundred dollars.

9. Provided that no person shall be guilty of, any stich
offence as aforesaid in respect of the sale of an article of food
or a drug mixed with any matter or ingredient not injurious
to health, and not intended to increase fraudulently its bulk,
weight or measure, or to conceal its inferior quality, if, at the
fline of delivering such article or drug, he supplies to the
person receiving the same a notice, by a label distinctly and
legibly -written. or printed on or with the article or drug, to
the effect that the saine is mixed.

10.(1) every person who-

(a) with intent, that the same may be sold in its altered
state without notice, abstracts froin an article of food any
part of it so as to affect injuriously its nature, substance, or
quality; or

(b) sells any article. so altered without making disclosure
of the alteration,

shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine not
exceeding two hundred dollars.

(2)) every person who sells skinuned milk to a pruchaser
demanding milk shall be liable to the same punishment.

10A. Every tin or other receptacle containing condensed
separated or skimmed milk sold or exposed for sale for
consumption in the Colony shall bear a label; and on every
such label and on the wrapper, if any, of every such tin or
other receptacle there shall be printed in large and legible
type in English and Chinese the. words This is skimmed
milk, children under one year of age should not be fed on it
and every
person who sells or exposes or offers for sale for consumption
in the Colony condensed separated or skimmed milk in
contravention of this section shall upon summary conviction
be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1923.
As amended by Law Am. Ord,, 1923.





11. Any purchaser or seller of an article of food or of a
drug shall. be entitled, on payment of' the sum of five dollars
to the Goverimient Analyst or to any analyst, to have such
article analyzed and to receive from him a certificate of the
result of his analysis.

12. Any sanitary inspector, or inspector of weights and
measures, or inspector of markets, or any officer of police
acting tinder the -written instructions of the Secretary of the
Sanitary Board, or of the Captain Superintendent of Police,
or of tho Medical Officer of health may, at the cost, of the
government, procure any smaple of food or drugs, and , if
he suspects the same to have been sold to him contrary to
any provision of this Ordinance, shall submit the same to be
analyzed by the Government Analyst or by anly analyst, and
such analyst shall, on receiving payment as is provided in
section 11, with all convenient speed analyze the same, and
shall give a certificate to stich officer, wherein he shall.
specify the resillt of the analysis.

13.-(1) Any person purchasing any article With the
intention of submitting the same for analysis shall, after the
purchase has been completed, forthwith notify to the seller
or his agent selling the article his intention on to have the same
analyzed by the Government Analyst or by any analyst, and
shall offer to divide the article into three parts to be, then
and there separated, and each part to be marked and sealed
or fastened up in such manner as its nature will permit,
and shall, if required to do so, proceed accordingly, and
shall deliver one of such parts to the seller or his agent.

(2) he shall retain one of the said parts for future
comparison, and shall himself submit the third part, if he
deems It right to have the article analyzed, to the analyst.

14. If the seller or his agent does not accept, the offer
of the purchaser to divide the article purchased in his
presence, the analyst receiving the article. for analysis shall
divide the same into two parts, and shall seal or fasten up
one of those parts and shall cause it to be delivered, either
on receipt of the sample or when he supplies the certificate,
to the purchaser, and the purchaser shall retain the same
for production in case proceedings are afterwards taken in
the matter.
As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1923.





If any such inspector or officer of police referred to

in section 12 acting under such written instructions as
therein mentioned, applies to purchase any article of food
or any drug exposed for sale, or on sale by retail, in any
premises, ship, or store, or in any street or place, and
tenders the price for the quantity which he purchases for
the purpose of analysis, not being inore than may be
reasonably requisite, and the person exposing the same for
Sale refuses to sell. the sarne he shall upon summary con-
viction be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.

16. The certilicate of the analysis shall be in the form in
the schedule or to the like effect.

17. the govenment analyst and any analyst shall report
quarterly to the colonial secretary and to the secretary of
the sanitary board the nimber of articles analyzed by him,
and the resule of every analysis, and such report shall be
published by the colonial secretary in the gazette. the
report shall not include analyses made under section 11.

18. when the analyst having analyzed any article has given
his certificate of the resulet, from which it may appear that
an offnece against some one of the provisions of this ordinance
has been committed, the person causing the analysis to be
made, or, if such person neglects to do so, the secretary of
the sanitary board may take summary proceedings before
a magistrate in respecto of such offence.

19.(1) at the hearing of such proceedings, the production
of the certificate of the ananlyst shall be sufficinet evidence of
the facts therein stated, unless the defendant requires that
the analyst shall be called as a witness, and the parts of the
articles retained by the person who purchased the article
shall be produced.

(2) the defendant may tender himself and his wife to be
examined on his behalf, and he or she shall, if he so desires,
be examined accordingly.

20.(1) the magistrate before whom any complaint may
be made under this ordinance, or the court before which any
case may be re-heard, may, on the request of either party in
his or its discretion, cause any article of food or drug to be






sent for analysis either to the government analyst or to any
analyst, and such analyst shall thereupon give a certificate
to such magistrate or court of the result of such analysis.

(2) the expenses of such analysis shall be paid by the
complainant or the defendant, as the magistrate or court
may direct.

21. in any prosecution under this ordinance, when the
fact of an article having been sold in a mixed state has been
proved, if the defnednat desires to rely on any exception
or provision contained in this ordinance, it shall be incumbent
on him to prove th same.

22. if the defendant in any prosecution under this ordi-
nance proves, to the satisfaction of the magistrate or court,
that he had pruchased the article in question as the same in
nature, substance, and quality as that demanded of him by
the prosecutor, and with a written warranty to that effect,
that the article was otherwise, and that he sold it in the same
state as when he pruchased it, he shall be discharged.

23. [(1), rep. no. 11 of 1922.]
(2) every person who wifully applies to an article of food
or a drug, in any proceedings, a certificate of warranty given
in relation to any other article or drug shall be guilty of an
offence and shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine
not exceeding two hundred dollars.

(3) every person who-

(a) gives a false warratny in writing to any pruchaser in
respect of an article of food or a drug sold by him as principal
or agent; or

(b) wilfully gives a label with any article sold by him
which falsely describes the article sold.

shall upon summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceed-
ing two hundred dollars.

24. nothing in this ordinance shall affect the power of
proceeding by indictment, or take away any other remedy
against any offender under this ordinance, or in any way
interfere with contracts and bargains between individuals and
the rights and remedies belonging thereto: provided that, in
any action brought by any person for a breach of contract






on the sale of any article of food or of any drug, such person
may recover, alone or in addition to any other damages
recoverable by him, the amount of nay penalty in which he
may have been convicted under this ordinance, together
with the costs incurred by him in and about his defence
thereto, if he proves that the article or drug, the subject of
such conviction, was sold to him as and for an article or drug
of the same naturem substance, and qualtiy as that which was
demanded of him, and that he purchased it not knowing it
to be otherwise, and afterwards sold it in the same state in
which he purchased it; the defendant in such action being
nevertheless at liberty to prove that the conviction was
wrongful or that the amount of costs claimed is unreasonable.

25.(1) the governor shall have power, on receiving
such evidence as to fitness as he may in his absolute discre-
tion deem sufficient, to appoint any person under his hand to
be an analyst for the purposes of this ordinance, and such
person is referred to in this ordinance as any analyst.

(2) any such appointment shall be published in the
gazette.

26. in any prosecution under this ordinance, and notwith-
standing the provisions of section 18, the summons to appear
before a magistrate shall be served on the person charged
within a reasonable time, and, in the case of a perishable
article, not exceeding twenty-eight days from the time of the
purchase from such person for test puropses of the food or
drug, for the sale of which he is being prosecuted, and
particulars of the offence of which the seller is accused, and
also the name of the prosecutor, shall be stated on the
summons, and the summons shall be made returnable in at
least seven days from the day of service.

27. it shall be lawful for any magistrate or court to order
the destruction of any article of food or drug in connexion
with which an offence is proved to have been comitted
under this ordinance.

28. (1) it shall be lawful for the governor in council
to make regulations for determining what deficiency in any
of the normal constituents of genuine milk, cream, butter,
or cheese, or what addition of extraneous matter or propor-
tion of water, in any sample of milk including condensed








milk, cream, butterm or chese, shall for the pruposes of this
ordinance raise a prosumption, until the contrary is proved,
that the milk, cream, butter, or cheese is not genuine or is
injurious to health, and any analyst shall have regard to
such regulations in certifying the result of an analysis under
this ordinance.

(2) regulations made under this section, in addition to
being published in the gazette, shall be made known in
suhc other manner as the governor in council may direct.

schedule [s.16.]
FORM OF CERTIFICATE OF ANANLSIS

to (1)
I, the undersigned, do hereby certify that I received on the
day of 19, from (2) a sample
of for analysis (which then weighed (3) ),
and have analyzed the same, and declare the result of my analysis to
be as follows:-

I am of opinion that the same is a sample of genuine
[or
I am of opinion that the said sample contained the parts as under,
or the percentages of foreign ingredients as under].
obserrations (4).
dated the day of 19
signed A.B. ananlyst

(1) here insert the name of person submitting the article for analysis
(2) here insert the name of the person delivering the sample
(3) when the article cannot be conveniently weighed, this passage may be erased or
the blank may be legt unfilled.
(4) here the analyst may insert at his discretion his opinion as to whether the
mixture, if any, was for the purpose of rendering the article potable or palatable, or
of preserving it, or of improving the appearance, or was unavoidable and may state
whether in excess of what is ordinary or otherwise, or whether the ingredients or
materials mixed are or are not injurious to health.

in the case of a certificate regarding milk, butter, or any article liable to decomposi-
tion, the ananlyst shall specially report whether any change had taken place in the
constitution of the article that would interfere with the analysis.

[Originally No. 18 of 1896. No. 11 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1924.] Short title. Interpretation 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 2. Prohibition against mixture of food or drug with injurious ingredient, and against selling when mixed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 3, 4. Exemption in case of proof of absence of knowledge. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 5. Prohibition against sale of article of food or drug not of proper nature substance or quality. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 6. In sale of adulterated article, no defence to allege purchase for analysis. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 2. Penalty on sale of compounded food or drug. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 7. Protection of seller by giving or label. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 8. Prohibition against abstraction of any part of article of food before sale and against selling article so altered without notice. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 9. Provision as to condensed separated or skimmed milk sold for consumption in the Colony. Power to purchaser or seller of food or drug to have it analyzed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 12. Power to certain officers to procure samples of food or drugs to submit to analyst. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 13. Provision for dealing with sample when purchased. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 14. Provision when sample is not divided. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 15. Penalty on person refusing to sell article to officer. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 17. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 5. Certificate of analysis. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 18. Schedule. Quarterly report of analyst. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 19. Proceedings against offenders. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 20. Effect of certificate as evidence, etc. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 21. Power to magistrate or court to have article of food or drug analyzed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 22. Onus on defendant to prove that he is protected by exception. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 24. Defendant to be discharged if he proves that he bought article in same state as sold and with warranty. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 25. False warranties and labels. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 27. Saving as to proceedings by indictment, and contracts. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 28. Power to appoint analysts. Special provision as to time for and notice of proceedings. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 10. Destruction of article of food or drug. Power for Governor in Council to make regulations as to analysis of milk, cream. butter, or cheese. 62 & 63 Vict, c. 51, s. 4.

[Originally No. 18 of 1896. No. 11 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1924.] Short title. Interpretation 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 2. Prohibition against mixture of food or drug with injurious ingredient, and against selling when mixed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 3, 4. Exemption in case of proof of absence of knowledge. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 5. Prohibition against sale of article of food or drug not of proper nature substance or quality. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 6. In sale of adulterated article, no defence to allege purchase for analysis. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 2. Penalty on sale of compounded food or drug. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 7. Protection of seller by giving or label. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 8. Prohibition against abstraction of any part of article of food before sale and against selling article so altered without notice. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 9. Provision as to condensed separated or skimmed milk sold for consumption in the Colony. Power to purchaser or seller of food or drug to have it analyzed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 12. Power to certain officers to procure samples of food or drugs to submit to analyst. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 13. Provision for dealing with sample when purchased. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 14. Provision when sample is not divided. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 15. Penalty on person refusing to sell article to officer. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 17. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 5. Certificate of analysis. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 18. Schedule. Quarterly report of analyst. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 19. Proceedings against offenders. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 20. Effect of certificate as evidence, etc. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 21. Power to magistrate or court to have article of food or drug analyzed. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 22. Onus on defendant to prove that he is protected by exception. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 24. Defendant to be discharged if he proves that he bought article in same state as sold and with warranty. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 25. False warranties and labels. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 27. Saving as to proceedings by indictment, and contracts. 38 & 39 Vict, c. 63, s. 28. Power to appoint analysts. Special provision as to time for and notice of proceedings. 42 & 43 Vict, c. 30, s. 10. Destruction of article of food or drug. Power for Governor in Council to make regulations as to analysis of milk, cream. butter, or cheese. 62 & 63 Vict, c. 51, s. 4.

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