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143
so sold the same shall be liable to the line and imprisonment
above mentioned, unless he proves that at the time he sold the
said article he did not know, and had no reason to believe, that
it was in such condition."
The Committee considered it desirable the law should be
amended to enable original vendors of unsound food to be proceeded
against. It was also suggested that proposals approved by
me Council with regard to sale of horse-flesh, viz.: —Registration
of Wholesale Dealers; Inspection of Registers by officers of Local
Authorities, and labelling of all consignments should be applicable
to other meat intended for sale as cats'-meat.
The Committee recommended the Council—
That the application of the Stepney Borough Council to the
Local Government Board be supported, and the Medical
Officer's proposals in respect of cats'-meat be also submitted.
It has been considered that it is the duty of an Inspector, not
having received a written request, to seize unsound food as soon
as he finds it, whatever the verbal statement to him may be.
This mode of procedure would be clearly wrong, for if a butcher
should send for an officer of the Sanitary Authority to inspect bad
food which he has put on one side, it is perfectly evident the
butcher does not intend it for the food of man at the time he calls
in the Inspector, and the officer would not then be justified in
seizing it, but if the butcher did not intend taking proper precautions
in having it removed, as laid down in section 47, subsection
8, of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, or in having
the article disposed of so as to prevent any risk of it being used
for the food of man, then the Inspector might seize the article,