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state, whether arising from adulteration or decomposition, as to
be injurious to the health of the purchaser, the vendor subjects
himself, not only to a civil action for damages, but also to the
liability of an indictment.
"Statute law relating to adulteration may be roughly
divided into two classes:—
"(1.) Restrictions imposed for the purposes of Revenue;
and
"(2.) Acts passed for the protection of the purchaser from
fraud.
"Prosecutions under Acts of Parliament falling within the
former of these two classes can only be undertaken by officers
appointed by the Government, while Acts of the second class
are administered by Local Sanitary Authorities, such as the
Vestry, and proceedings can be maintained under them by
private individuals, independently of the Vestry altogether. It
is only with these last-mentioned Acts that the Committee need
trouble themselves.
"For all practical purposes the law relating to adulteration,
so far as concerns Local Authorities, has been codified in the
Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875 and 1879, although they
are supplemented in the Margarine Act, 1887, and one or two
other Acts. Offences under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts
may, for the purpose of this report, be classified under three
heads:—
"(1.) The fraudulent addition of a substance injurious to
health;
"(2.) The fraudulent abstraction of an ingredient; and
“(8.) The sale, even without any allegation of fraud, of an
article not of the nature, substance, or quality
demanded by the purchaser.
"The sale of Vinegar containing Sulphuric Acid might come
under cither the first or third of these principal heads; but it is
clear that to support a prosecution for an offence of the first
class the evidence must be stronger and more direct than in the
case of a prosecution under the third head.
The 3rd Section of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875,
imposes a penalty, for tho first offence, of £50 upou any person
who mixes any article of food with any ingredient or material so