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Revised Statutes of Newfoundland 1990


CHAPTER F-21

AN ACT RESPECTING FOOD AND DRUGS

Analysis

1. Short title

2. Definitions

3. Regulations

4. Sale of unfit food

5. Examination of food

6. Seizure of food

7. Food offered as prizes

8. Transportation of food

9. Buildings containing food

10. Licensing

11. Slaughter of animals

12. Sampling of food

13. Division of samples

14. Offence re: inspection

15. Offence re: seizure

16. Storage of goods seized

17. Complaint of inspector

18. Food considered for sale

19. Examination of food handlers

20. Sale prohibited

21. Where food sold

22. Transportation of food

23. Sale of "stripped beef"

24. Meat to be cooled

25. Tuberculin testing

26. Date when goods frozen

27. Cold storage records

28. Limitation of storage

29. Misrepresentation of goods

30. Notice of cold storage

31. Return to cold storage

32. Employee's offence also employer's

33. Certificate of analyst

34. Action against inspector

35. Offence

36. General penalty


Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Food and Drug Act.

RSN1970 c139 s1

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Definitions

2. In this Act

(a) "analyst" means the government analyst or an analyst designated by the minister for the purpose of this Act; and this word and the word "analysis" or its grammatical forms connote physical or bacteriological or other similar examinations as well as chemical analysis;

(b) "chief health inspector" means the official in charge of the inspection division of the department;

(c) "cold storage" means the storage of articles of food at or below a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius, those temperatures being artificially reproduced;

(d) "cold store" means an establishment employing refrigerating machinery or ice or other artificial cooling method for the storage of foods at or below a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius;

(e) "department" means the Department of Health;

(f) "drug" includes all medicines for internal or external use for human beings or animals;

(g) "food" includes every article used for food or drink by human beings, other than drugs, and an article which ordinarily enters into or is used in the composition or preparation of food for human beings, and also includes flavouring matters and condiments, and ice sold for domestic purposes;

(h) "inspector" means a person authorized or instructed by the minister to inspect food, drugs and places where food is prepared or sold or where drugs are prepared, offered for sale or sold;

(i) "minister" means the Minister of Health;

(j) "package" includes a box, bottle, basket, tin, barrel, case, receptacle, sack, bag, wrapper or other thing in which food or a drug are placed or packed;

(k) "place where food is prepared or sold" means a place where food is prepared, packed or repacked, stored, offered for sale or sold, and includes hotels, restaurants, moveable shops or stalls, tents or booths, shops, stores, cold stores, bakeries, breweries, bottling establishments, dairy stables, dairies, creameries, pasteurizing plants and slaughterhouses;

(l) "premises" includes a vehicle or other ambulatory establishment; and

(m) "vehicle" means a vehicle in which food is prepared or transported.

RSN1970 c139 s2; 1978 c55 Sch

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Regulations

3. The minister may make regulations

(a) prescribing the manner in which food intended for human consumption shall be prepared, packaged, stored, transported, sold, advertised or exposed for sale, and delivered;

(b) prescribing the manner in which packages shall be marked in order to disclose the nature or method of preparation of their contents;

(c) prohibiting or restricting or prescribing the addition of a substance to food and prescribing in the case of food or a drug a standard of quality or composition and the limits within which the quality or composition may be varied;

(d) prohibiting the sale or holding for sale within the province of food or a drug unless that food or drug attains a standard of composition laid down in the regulations;

(e) requiring every owner or manager of places where food is sold for consumption on the premises to make written returns at intervals that are mentioned in the regulations, of the names, addresses and description of persons employed on those premises at the time of the returns;

(f) dispensing, in the case of highly perishable goods, of the tripartite division of samples mentioned in section 13; and

(g) designating as analysts for the purpose of this Act persons suitably qualified in the opinion of the minister and prescribing the fees to be paid for analyses made for the purpose of this Act.

RSN1970 c139 s3

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Sale of unfit food

4. (1) A person who

(a) sells, or offers, or exposes for sale, or possesses for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale;

(b) deposits with or consigns to a person for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale,

food intended for but unfit for human consumption is guilty of an offence.

(2) Where food, in respect of which an offence under paragraph (1)(a) has been committed, was sold to the offender by some other person that person is also guilty of an offence.

(3) Where a person is charged with an offence under paragraph (1)(b) or under subsection (2) it is a defence for that person to prove either that he or she gave notice to the person with whom he or she deposited or to whom he or she consigned or sold the food in question that it was not intended for human consumption or that at the time when it was delivered or dispatched to that person either it was fit for human consumption or that person did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that it was unfit for human consumption.

(4) Where a person licensed under this Act to keep a slaughterhouse is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may, in addition to another penalty, cancel the licence.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under this section in relation to a food and the food has been brought before a Provincial Court judge under section 5, 6, 7 or 8, the person may be tried by that Provincial Court judge or by another Provincial Court judge.

RSN1970 c139 s4; 1979 c38 s1

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Examination of food

5. (1) An inspector may at all times enter and inspect a place where food is prepared or sold or held for sale, or a place where drugs are prepared, offered for sale or sold, and may inspect and examine the place and all things in it.

(2) An inspector may at all reasonable times inspect and examine food exposed for sale or deposited in a place for the purpose of sale or in preparation for sale which is intended or might be used for human consumption.

(3) Where an inspector finds food which appears to him or her to be unwholesome, unsound, diseased, injurious to health or otherwise unfit for consumption of human beings, that inspector may declare to the owner of the food, or to the person in whose possession the food is, his or her intention of seizing and carrying away the food in order that it may be destroyed or so disposed of as to prevent it from being exposed for sale or used for consumption of human beings.

(4) The owner or person in whose possession the food is may then and there object to the proposed destruction or disposition and declare to the inspector in writing his or her desire to have the matter referred to a Provincial Court judge.

(5) Upon a declaration by the owner or person in possession of the food the inspector may seize the food and take it immediately before a Provincial Court judge who shall summarily and without a formal procedure, after having afforded the owner or person in possession of the food an opportunity of being present, view the food and either confirm the decision of the inspector, in which case the food shall be destroyed by the inspector or so disposed of as to prevent it being exposed for sale or used for consumption of human beings, or may reverse the decision of the inspector, in which case the person from whom the food was seized may immediately resume possession of the food.

(6) Where the owner or person in whose possession the food was found does not declare in writing his or her desire to have the matter referred to a Provincial Court judge, or where the inspector after making a diligent inquiry cannot discover an owner or person in possession of the food, the inspector may seize and carry away the food and, without a reference to a Provincial Court judge, have it destroyed or so disposed of as to prevent it from being exposed for sale or used for consumption of human beings.

(7) Where food has been seized or stored or destroyed under this section, the cost of the seizure or storage or destruction shall be borne by the owner or person in possession of the food.

RSN1970 c139 s5; 1979 c38 s1

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Seizure of food

6. (1) Where an inspector has reasonable cause to suspect that food, wherever found, may be unwholesome, unsound, diseased, injurious to health or otherwise unfit for human consumption, that inspector may, by an order in writing, direct that it shall be seized and the food shall be dealt with in accordance with the order of the inspector.

(2) Where an order is made under subsection (1), the inspector who made the order shall promptly examine or order the food that is subject to the order to be examined in order to determine its quality.

(3) Where the examination made under subsection (2) discloses that the food is unfit for human consumption, then, subsections 5(3) to (7) shall, with the necessary changes, apply in respect of it.

(4) Where the examination made under subsection (2) discloses that the food is fit for human consumption, then, the inspector shall cancel the order made in respect of it under subsection (1) and return the food to the owner or person in whose possession it was found.

RSN1970 c139 s6

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Food offered as prizes

7. (1) Sections 4, 5 and 6 apply in relation to food that is intended for human consumption and is

(a) offered as a prize or reward in connection with an entertainment to which the public are admitted whether on payment of money or not;

(b) offered as a prize or reward or given away for the purpose of advertisement or to further a trade or business; or

(c) exposed or deposited in a premises for the purpose of being so offered or given away

as if the food was or had been exposed for sale

(i) in a case falling within paragraph (a), by each person concerned in the organization of the entertainment,

(ii) in a case falling within paragraph (b), by the person offering or giving away the food,

(iii) in a case falling within paragraph(c), by the occupier of the premises.

(2) In this section the expression "entertainment" includes a social gathering, amusement, exhibition, performance, game, sport or trial of skill.

RSN1970 c139 s7

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Transportation of food

8. Where an inspector has reason to suspect that a cart, barrow or other vehicle, or a container contains food intended for sale for human consumption, that inspector may examine the contents of the vehicle or the container, and for that purpose may detain the vehicle or the container, and where he or she finds food that appears to him or her to be intended for but unfit for human consumption, that inspector may deal with it as food falling within subsection 5(3) and subsections (4), (5), (6) and (7) of that section apply accordingly.

RSN1970 c139 s8

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Buildings containing food

9. (1) The following provisions have effect in relation to every room in which food intended for human consumption is prepared for sale, or sold, or offered or exposed for sale, or deposited for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale

(a) no sanitary convenience, dustbin or ashpit shall be within or communicate directly with the room or be so placed that offensive odours from it can penetrate into the room;

(b) no cistern for the supply of water to the room shall be in direct communication with or discharge directly into a sanitary convenience, and there shall not be within the room an outlet for the ventilation of a drain or, except with the approval of an inspector, an inlet into a drain conveying sewage or foul water;

(c) the room shall not be used as a sleeping place and, so far as may be necessary to prevent risk of infection or contamination of food in the room, no sleeping place adjoining the room shall communicate with the room except through the open air or through an intervening ventilated place;

(d) except in the case of an artificially refrigerated room, suitable and sufficient means of ventilation shall be provided and suitable and sufficient ventilation shall be maintained;

(e) no refuse or filth, whether solid or liquid, shall be deposited or allowed to accumulate in the room, except so far as may be necessary for the proper carrying on of the trade or business for which the room is used, and the floor of the room shall be cleansed as often as may be necessary to keep it clean; and

(f) cleanliness of a standard approved by an inspector shall be observed by persons employed in the room, both in regard to the room and all articles, apparatus and utensils in the room and in regard to themselves and their clothing.

(2) Where in the case of a room to which subsection (1) applies

(a) a requirement of that subsection is not complied with;

(b) a person does or permit an act or thing in contravention of that subsection, or fails to take all reasonable steps to prevent risk of contamination of food in the room; or

(c) a person prevents the owner of the room from executing work necessary to make the room comply with the requirements of that subsection,

then, in respect of paragraph (a), the occupier of the room and, in respect of paragraphs (b) and (c), the person in question, whether that person is the occupier or not, is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100 and to a further fine not exceeding $20 for each day during which the offence continues after conviction.

(3) Where, in the case of a room to which subsection (1) applies, a requirement specified in paragraph (a) or (d) is not complied with, then, in so far as that requirement is of structural character, the owner of the room is, where he or she has let it for the purpose of being used for the preparation, sale or storage of food, or, where not having so let it, he or she permits it to be used after receiving notice from the chief health inspector, liable to the penalty mentioned in subsection (2), but without prejudice to the liability of the occupier under that subsection.

(4) Where the owner of a room who did not let it for the purpose of being used for the preparation, sale or storage of food executes a work necessary to make the room comply with the requirements of subsection (1) that owner may recover the expenses incurred by him or her in so doing from the occupier of the room summarily as a civil debt.

(5) In this section, the expression "room" includes a shop or cellar or other part of a building, and a shed, store or outbuilding or a part of one, and the provisions of this section, except paragraphs (1)(e) and (f), where applicable, apply in relation to a yard, forecourt, or area as they apply in relation to a room.

(6) Except as may be expressly provided by the regulations, this section does not apply in relation to premises that are used for the preparation, sale or storage of articles prepared from or consisting of materials other than those of animal or vegetable origin, where the premises are not otherwise used for a purpose in connection with the preparation, storage or sale of food.

RSN1970 c139 s9

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Licensing

10. (1) The minister may in respect of an area in the province make regulations in respect of all or any of the trades to which this section applies for all or any of the purposes mentioned in the following paragraphs

(a) prohibiting the use of a premises in the area to which the regulations apply, for the trade or trades unless the premises are licensed for that purpose under this section;

(b) prohibiting the carrying on in the area to which the regulations apply of the trade in a street or place of public resort by the sale or the offer or exposure for sale of food or drugs from a stall or from a cart, barrow or other vehicle, or from a bicycle, pail, tray or other container used without a stall or vehicle unless the person is licensed to carry on the trade in that manner under this section;

(c) for exempting, either absolutely or subject to conditions, a person from the requirements of licensing under paragraph (b) where the person is employed by the occupier or is the occupier of premises licensed under paragraph (a); and

(d) prescribing standards of lighting and ventilation, sanitary arrangements and equipment for premises in respect of which a licence is applied for under this section, and prescribing the manner of cleansing and the utensils and the substances to be used as cleansing agents.

(2) The trades to which this section applies are

(a) the preparation and sale of foods for consumption on the premises;

(b) the preparation and sale of cooked foods for consumption off the premises other than the sale of foods in tins, jars, bottles, or otherwise, hermetically sealed;

(c) baking;

(d) brewing;

(e) brewing and sale at retail of ales and beers;

(f) manufacture and sale of bottled beverages;

(g) cold storage of foods;

(h) slaughtering of animals;

(i) sale of meat;

(j) manufacture and sale of sausages;

(k) production or preparation for sale of milk, butter or cream;

(l) sale of milk or cream;

(m) manufacture and sale of butter substitutes;

(n) manufacture and sale of ice cream;

(o) manufacture, sale and distribution of confectionery, desserts, frozen foods, reconstituted foods and the component parts of each of them;

(p) manufacture and sale of jams, jellies and preserves;

(q) manufacture or preparation of drugs or medicines at wholesale;

(r) storage and sale of ice for domestic use;

(s) preparation and packing for sale of foods in tins, jars or bottles, or otherwise, hermetically sealed; and

(t) other trades designated by the minister as coming under this section.

(3) Annual fees to be paid for the licences issued in accordance with regulations made under this section may be prescribed in the regulations and different fees may be prescribed in respect of different trades or classes of trades and the fees prescribed in respect of a trade may be varied in accordance with the volume of the trade carried on; and no licence for which a fee is payable shall be issued unless the fee is first paid.

(4) Licences for the conduct of the trades to which this section applies shall be issued and renewable annually and shall remain in force until March 31 next after issue.

(5) Every person desiring to carry on a trade to which this section applies shall apply in writing to the chief health inspector for a licence to carry on the trade.

(6) The chief health inspector may grant the licence or, where it appears to him or her on the report of an inspector that the premises in respect of which the licence is applied for do not conform with this Act or the regulations or are otherwise unsuitable for the conduct of the trade in respect of which the licence is applied for, may refuse to grant the licence.

(7) Where the holder of a licence has been convicted of a breach of this Act or the regulations or where it appears to the chief health inspector that a premises in respect of which a licence has been granted do not continue to conform with this Act or the regulations or have otherwise become unsuitable for the conduct of the trade in respect of which the licence has been granted, the chief health inspector may cancel the licence notwithstanding that the term of the licence has not expired.

(8) The powers granted by this section to the chief health inspector shall routinely be exercised by him or her but may also lawfully be exercised by the Deputy or Assistant Deputy minister of Health or Chief Medical Health Officer.

(9) A licence shall not be granted in respect of a premises for the carrying on of a trade to which this section applies where an inspector certifies that the premises do not comply with the regulations or are not structurally suitable for the conduct of the trade.

(10) A person who is aggrieved by a decision of the chief health inspector under this section may, within 14 days of the decision, appeal to a Provincial Court judge by giving notice in writing to the Provincial Court judge and to the chief health inspector.

(11) The Provincial Court judge may require the applicant under subsection (10) to furnish information and evidence and to submit to the examination that the Provincial Court judge may consider necessary to determine the matter in dispute.

(12) The decision of the Provincial Court judge is final.

RSN1970 c139 s10; 1979 c38 s1; 1984 c18 s5

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Slaughter of animals

11. (1) No animal, within a licensing area, shall be slaughtered for food except in an approved building but this subsection does not apply to the killing of game animals.

(2) Where the trade mentioned in paragraphs 10(2)(h), (i) and (j) are by regulation required to be licensed in a licensing area no person shall bring within the area meat from a slaughterhouse within the province situate outside the licensing area unless the slaughterhouse has been licensed under the regulations.

(3) No meat from outside the province may be sold within the province unless it shows evidence of inspection at point of origin or processing.

RSN1970 c139 s11

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Sampling of food

12. (1) An inspector may purchase for analysis a sample of food or a drug.

(2) An inspector may without going through the form of purchase take for analysis a sample of food or a drug in the course of manufacture, preparation, sale or delivery to a purchaser or consignee.

(3) An inspector may without going through the form of purchase take for analysis a sample of food in bulk or milk, meat, fowl or fish sold or exposed for sale or intended for sale or being on the premises of a dealer in those commodities or in a vehicle.

(4) Where an inspector applies to purchase an article of food or a drug exposed for sale or on sale by retail on a premises, including a street or open space of public resort, and tenders the price for the quantity which he or she requires for the purpose of analysis, not being more than is reasonably requisite, and the person exposing the article or drug for sale, or having it for sale on the premises, refuses to sell to the inspector the quantity so required, or where the person having charge of an article of food or drug of which an inspector is empowered to take a sample under subsection (2) or (3) refuses to allow the inspector to take the quantity which he or she requires for the purpose of analysis, the person so refusing is guilty of an offence.

(5) Where an article of food is exposed for sale in an unopened tin or package properly labelled, no person shall be required to sell it except in the unopened tin or package in which it is contained.

RSN1970 c139 s12

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Division of samples

13. The inspector purchasing or taking a sample of an article of food or a drug with the intention of submitting it to analysis shall, after the purchase has been completed, or at the time of taking the sample, immediately notify the seller or his or her agent who sold the sample or the person in charge of the goods from which the sample was taken of the inspector's intention to have it analyzed by an analyst and shall then and there divide the sample into 3 parts, each part to be marked and sealed or fastened up in the manner that its nature will permit, and shall

(a) where required to do so, deliver 1 part to the seller or the agent of the seller or the person in charge of the goods from which the sample was taken;

(b) retain 1 part for future comparison; and

(c) where the inspector thinks fit to have an analysis made, submit 1 part to the analyst.

RSN1970 c139 s13

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Offence re: inspection

14. Where, after being requested to do so by an inspector, a person who has possession of or control of for sale or in course of its manufacture or its preparation for sale food or a drug refuses or omits

(a) to show the inspector the place in which the food or drug is stored;

(b) to admit the inspector into that place;

(c) to show the inspector all food or a drug in his or her possession;

(d) to permit the inspector to inspect food or a drug in his or her possession;

(e) to furnish the inspector with a light or assistance he or she requires for the purpose of this section;

(f) to answer truthfully questions put to that person by the inspector regarding the food or drug, or the place where it is prepared or stored,

that person is guilty of an offence.

RSN1970 c139 s14

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Offence re: seizure

15. Every person who, without an inspector's order for disposal, removes, alters or in any way interferes with anything seized under this Act is guilty of an offence.

RSN1970 c139 s15

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Storage of goods seized

16. An article seized under this Act may at the option of the inspector be kept or stored in the building or place where it was seized or may, by the direction of the inspector, be removed to another place.

RSN1970 c139 s16

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Complaint of inspector

17. (1) Where food is sold on premises and the premises are insanitary or there exists on or in connection with those premises a condition which would constitute a danger to the health of a person purchasing food on or from those premises, an inspector or other person designated for the purpose by the minister may lay a complaint before a Provincial Court judge stating the condition existing on or in connection with the premises.

(2) Every Provincial Court judge before whom a complaint is laid under subsection (1) shall proceed promptly to hear the matter of the complaint, first giving the owner and the occupier of the premises reasonable notice of the hearing.

(3) Where, in the opinion of the Provincial Court judge before whom a complaint was laid under subsection (1), it is desirable to do so, the judge may make an order that no food shall be sold on or from the premises in respect of which the complaint was laid, pending the hearing and determination of the complaint.

(4) Upon hearing a complaint laid under subsection (1), a Provincial Court judge may

(a) where satisfied that the sale of food on or from the premises in respect of which the complaint was laid constitutes a danger to the health of a person purchasing it, issue an order prohibiting the sale of food on or from those premises, either absolutely, or, except upon compliance with those terms and conditions that the judge may prescribe in the order; or

(b) where not satisfied that the sale of food on or from the premises in respect of which the complaint was laid constitutes a danger to the health of a person purchasing it, dismiss the complaint and revoke an interim order made by that or another Provincial Court judge under subsection (3) relating to the premises.

(5) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with an order of a Provincial Court judge issued under subsection (3) or (4) is guilty of an offence under this Act.

(6) This section applies to and in respect of every premises and the owner or occupier of them, whether or not the premises are licensed under this Act or the regulations, or the licensing provisions of this Act or the regulations apply to the premises.

RSN1970 c139 s17; 1979 c38 s1

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Food considered for sale

18. (1) Food or a drug found upon a premises ordinarily used for the sale or storage of the food or drug, or similar food or drug, shall be considered to be held for sale.

(2) The supplying of food whether in the forms of meals or otherwise by an employer to an employee constitutes a sale and food kept by an employer in a place commonly used for storage of food for employees shall be considered to be kept for sale.

RSN1970 c139 s18

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Examination of food handlers

19. (1) The minister, a medical health officer or an inspector may require a person working or about to work in a place where food is prepared or sold to submit to medical examination for the purpose of ascertaining whether that person is afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease or physical ailment that may contaminate the food or affect other persons through the medium of the food.

(2) An examination required under subsection (1) shall be made without charge to the person examined and shall be made by a registered medical practitioner designated by the minister.

(3) A person examined under subsection (1) may have his or her own physician present at the examination.

(4) A person who upon the examination is certified by the examining medical practitioner to be unfit to work in a place where food is prepared or sold by reason of a contagious or infectious disease or physical ailment shall not work in a place where food is prepared or sold until that person has received from the minister a permit to do so and where he or she does so without a permit he or she is guilty of an offence.

(5) A person who refuses to submit to medical examination when required under subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(6) A person who knowingly employs, in a place where food is prepared or sold, a person who has refused to submit to medical examination under subsection (1) or a person who has been certified as unfit to be so employed and has not subsequently received a permit from the minister under subsection (4) is guilty of an offence.

RSN1970 c139 s19

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Sale prohibited

20. No person shall sell, offer or expose for sale the flesh of an animal or fowl which has died of sickness or been killed while overheated or feverish or in ill-health, or a calf killed before it is 3 weeks old, or of a pig killed before it is 5 weeks old, or of a lamb killed before it is 8 weeks old, or the flesh of an animal dying otherwise than by slaughter nor shall that person sell or offer for sale a bull beef or boar pork unless it is made known to the purchaser that that is the meat being sold.

RSN1970 c139 s20

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Where food sold

21. No person shall keep, sell or offer for sale food outside of a store, shop or building or in the open doorways or in the open or closed display windows of a store, shop or building, or in a street or public place, unless the food is kept properly covered so that it is protected from dust, dirt and the contact of flies.

RSN1970 c139 s21

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Transportation of food

22. (1) No food shall be transported in the open air unless protected by a covering that shall preserve it from dust, dirt, flies or other contamination.

(2) Bread shall be wrapped in waxed paper wrappings.

(3) All vehicles used for the transportation of food shall have the name of the owner legibly painted on it in a conspicuous place in letters not less than 7.62 centimetres in size.

RSN1970 c139 s22

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Sale of "stripped beef"

23. (1) No person shall have in his or her possession, or expose, or sell, or offer for sale for human consumption, beef from which the pleura has been removed, commonly known as "stripped beef".

(2) Beef referred to in subsection (1) is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to be diseased.

RSN1970 c139 s23

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Meat to be cooled

24. (1) No meat or dead animal above the size of a rabbit shall be taken to a public market, shop or place for sale until it has been fully cooled and all blood has ceased dripping from it after its killing, nor until the entrails have been removed.

(2) No unwholesome or offensive matter or thing shall be brought to or near a market, shop or place referred to in subsection (1).

RSN1970 c139 s24

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Tuberculin testing

25. (1) No producer or vendor of milk shall represent to his or her customers or to the public that his or her cows have undergone tuberculin test or that they have reacted favourably to the test unless the producer of the milk has possession of a certificate to that effect issued by the proper officer of the Department of Health within 1 year previous to the representation and relating to each animal in the herd.

(2) No unpasteurized milk shall be placed in a container marked so as to suggest that the contents have been pasteurized.

(3) An adulteration of milk shall be considered to be injurious to health.

RSN1970 c139 s25

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Date when goods frozen

26. (1) Where articles of food are placed in cold storage the date of receipt into cold storage shall be plainly marked either on the containers in which the articles of food are packed, or, where not packed in containers, upon a label attached to all the articles; and where the articles have been held in cold storage in another country before being placed in cold storage in this country, they shall be plainly marked in accordance with this subsection with the words "cold stored in [country of origin]".

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to fish placed in cold storage for export and exported.

RSN1970 c139 s26

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Cold storage records

27. (1) The owner or keeper of every cold store shall keep a book of record in which shall be entered the date upon which each and every article or lot of goods was frozen in or placed in the cold store.

(2) Every article or lot referred to in subsection (1) shall be identified by reference to marks placed on it, and the book shall be open at all times to the inspection of an inspector, and the owner or keeper shall submit to the department before the 16th day of each month a report on a printed form to be supplied by the department setting out the quantities of articles of food placed in cold storage during the month preceding and also the quantities of articles of food held on the 1st day of the month in which the report is filed.

RSN1970 c139 s27

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Limitation of storage

28. No person shall sell or deliver out of a cold store an article of food that has been in cold storage in this country and elsewhere for more than 12 calendar months unless the article has been inspected and a written permit to sell or deliver the article has been issued by the chief health inspector.

RSN1970 c139 s28

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Misrepresentation of goods

29. No person shall represent or advertise as fresh goods articles of food that have been held in cold storage.

RSN1970 c139 s29

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Notice of cold storage

30. No person shall sell, offer or expose for sale fish which has been held in cold storage without express notice to the purchaser by the display of a sign that the fish has been held in cold storage.

RSN1970 c139 s30

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Return to cold storage

31. No article of food which has been taken out of cold store shall be returned into a cold store except with the express permission of an inspector.

RSN1970 c139 s31

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Employee's offence also employer's

32. An offence against this Act or the regulations by an officer, employee or agent acting for or employed by a person or corporation and being within the scope of his or her employment or office shall be considered to be the offence of both that person and of the employing person or corporation.

RSN1970 c139 s32

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Certificate of analyst

33. Upon the hearing of a charge under this Act or the regulations the production of the certificate of an analyst is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, evidence of the facts stated in the certificate unless the defendant requests that the analyst be called as a witness and the parts of the samples retained by the person who purchased the article or took the sample shall be produced.

RSN1970 c139 s33

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Action against inspector

34. Where an action or proceeding is taken against the chief health inspector, an inspector, officer or other person for anything done by him or her under this Act or the regulations and the court before which the action or proceeding is taken is satisfied that there was probably cause for the action of the chief health inspector, inspector, officer or other person and that it was not malicious, a verdict or judgment shall not be given against the chief health inspector, inspector, officer or other person for more than $0.05 damages or for costs of suit.

RSN1970 c139 s34

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Offence

35. A person who contravenes this Act or the regulations or fails to comply with the conditions of a licence or permit issued under this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence.

RSN1970 c139 s35

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General penalty

36. A person who is guilty of an offence is liable on summary conviction, where no other penalty is provided in this Act, or the regulations, to a fine not exceeding $400 or in default of payment to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months or to both a fine and imprisonment.

RSN1970 c139 s36

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