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Legal Proceedings
Legal proceedings were taken in the following 2 instances:—
(1) Food and Drugs Act, 1955—Section 2.
A bakery firm, whose premises are outside the district, was
summonsed for selling, to the prejudice of the purchaser, a sliced loaf
of bread not being of the substance demanded, in that it contained
pieces of string. The case was dismissed, it being submitted that the
presence of the string was not harmful and did not alter the substance
of the bread.
Arising from this decision, and other similar decisions, the
Council referred the matter to the Association of Municipal Corporations
with a view to clarification of the meaning of this Section of
the Act. After consideration, it was decided to take no action for
the time being until further evidence of similar decisions was forthcoming.
(2) Food & Drugs Act, 1955—Section 2.
A dairy firm was prosecuted for selling a bottle of milk containing
foreign matter (i.e., a snail). As there appeared to be some doubt
as to how and when the snail entered the bottle, the case was dismissed.
RODENT CONTROL
In recent years it was found convenient to prepare this report for
the period of the financial year (i.e., 1st April to 31st March). This
facilitated the work in connection with submitting a claim to the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, under Section 11 of the
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949. However, in accordance
with the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1958, Section 4,
no grant from the Ministry is now payable.
In view of this, it is intended that the period under review in
future Annual Reports should be for the calendar year, as is the case
with all other subjects discussed here.
The Rodent Control report this year covers the period from
1st April, 1959, to 31st December, 1959.
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