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Warranty, &c.—The warranty clause has been so much abused, especially
in the case of the sale of milk, that the Public Health Committee has on several
occasions passed resolutions in favour of rescinding it.
Proceedings under the Food and Drugs Acts may be taken against persons
who sell adulterated milk, as follows :—
(1) If an Inspector purchases milk from the milkseller and the milk proves
to be adulterated, the milkseller is liable to prosecution, and the information
must be laid before the Magistrate of the district in which the purchase
was made.
On the hearing of the information, if the milkseller proves that he
purchased the milk with a warranty of purity, and that no adulteration
has taken place while the milk has been in his possession, he is entitled
to be discharged.
(2) Proceedings can then be taken against the giver of the warranty, but these
proceedings are not for selling adulterated milk, but for the offence of
giving a false warranty. Such proceedings may be taken before the same
Magistrate who heard the original charge against the milkseller, even
though the warranty was not given within the district in which the
Magistrate ordinarily has jurisdiction. A warranty from the farmer who
supplied him, together with evidence that there was no reason to believe
that the statements contained in the warranty given to the retailer were
untrue, will, in all probability, ensure the acquittal of the wholesale
dealer of knowingly giving a false warranty.
(3) You may take proceedings against the farmer for giving a false warranty
to the wholesale dealer, but in that case, proceedings can only be taken
before the Justices of the district in which the warranty was given.
Thus our Council would, if we desired to proceed against the farmer for
giving a false warranty, have to lay an information before the Justices
of Essex, Derbyshire, Hampshire, or even possibly Somersetshire. We
would have to take all the witnesses there, including the milkseller and
representatives of the wholesale firm, and prove not only the fact that
the milk when purchased by the Inspector was adulterated, but that it
was adulterated by the farmer and not by the wholesale dealer who
purchased from the farmer, or by the milkseller who purchased from
the wholesale dealer.
In addition to the expense of trying to prove such a case, it would
be almost impossible to obtain a conviction.
The warranty clause of the Food and Drugs Act, 1899, states that the warranty
shall not be available as a defence unless the defendant has, within seven days
after service of the summons, sent to the purchaser a copy of such warranty