View report page

- 68 -
the event of a mistake having been made by him either in his analysis
or in his recommendations or actions to support his views.
One point entirely new to Food and Drug administration is that
provision has been made whereby the public analyst for the area. who
is unable to carry out an effective analysis of a sample because he
lacks the necessary apparatus or knowledges, may pass it to the public
analyst for another area who possesses such apparatus and knowledge.
Unfortunately expensive physical apparatus is being introduced at such
a rate that in the not far distant future it may be impossible to
carry out the whole analysis of a sample in one laboratory, but as
the Act has been worded the whole analysis must be carried out under
the control of one analyst only.
From the general administrative angle the length of time during
which proceedings may be commenced for samples other than milk has been
extended from 28 days to two months, and the period during which proceedings
for giving a false warranty may be commenced has been increased to
twelve months.
One points which is not made clear in the Act and which may
cause some confusion, is that the Food and Drugs Amendment Act, 1954,
repealed "The Defence (Sale of Food) Regulations, 1943, As this Act
never came into force as such, but only in the consolidated Act of 1955,
many people have overlooked the repeal of numerous Orders made as a result
of this repealo It would have been useful had the 1955 Act re-enumerated
repeals brought about by the Act of 1954.
The Food Hygiene Regulations, 1955, except for enforcement of
certain minor parts, came into force with the new Food and Drugs Act,
These Regulations are not, in the main, the concern of the public analyst,
but of the medical officer of health and public health inspectors. The
public analyst, is, however, frequently asked for his opinion on complaint
samples, which may be the subject of offences against the general
provisions of the Act or of the Regulations, In your analyst's opinion
these regulations will prove of the greatest assistance to local
authorities in dealing with certain backward traders and manufacturers,
but care will have to be exercised over complaints from the general
public. For some years there has been a growing tendency for the public
to look to the local authority for guidance and action when foods of
inferior, dubious, or really unsaleable quality have been supplied and
this is a symptom, which your analyst welcomes, and he hopes that, with
the progress of time, the manufacturer and the tradesman will also
welcome them. The good manufacturer is apt to feel aggrieved when
complaints are taken to the local authority instead of being returned
to the shop where the article was purchased, but many of the public
feel that their justifiable complaints are ignored, even by many of the
large companies. which deny that the article is inferior, or even
accuse the purchaser of allowing a product to deteriorate before making
the complaint. Manufacturers feel that their good names and reputations
are impugned when complaints are taken to the local authority instead
of to the shop, but it is the opinion of your analyst that the local
authority and the public analyst are in a better position to give an
unbiased opinion. It cannot be denied that there is a growing tendency