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Unsound Food.
The Sale, or Exposure for Sale, of any article which is unsound
and unfit for food is such a serious matter, that the
Legislature realized its importance by enacting Section 47 in
the Public Health Act of 1891. Part of this Section is quite
new, and extends the powers of previous Acts of Parliament
by rendering the wholesale dealer, as well as the retailer liable
to prosecution.
Some of the Sanitary Authorities in various parts of London
are fully alive to the provisions of this far-reaching Act as
recent cases shew.
The Public Health Act, by Sub-section 8 of Section 47, provides
that in those cases where a person has in his possession
any article which is unsound and unfit for the food of man,
and has no intention of foisting such food on the public, he
may give notice to the Sanitary Authorities, and have the same
removed as trade refuse.
A number of tradesmen in our district have taken advantage
of this part of the Act, and during the past twelve months, a
large quantity of fruit and salmon has been treated in this way.
A receipt is always given specifying that such articles are
removed as trade refuse, and were unsound and unfit for human
food.
In April last year, Inspector Mr. Lyon and myself, paid a
visit to a preserved meat factory in this district; after some
difficulty in gaining admission, we inspected the premises, and