Food and Drugs (Milk, Dairies and Artificial Cream) Act 1950

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1950 c. 35
Year1950


Food and Drugs (Milk, Dairies and Artificial Cream) Act , 1950

(14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 35

An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to milk, dairies and artificial cream.

[26th October 1950]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

I Milk and Dairies

Part I

Milk and Dairies

Milk and Dairies Regulations

Milk and Dairies Regulations

S-1 Power to make regulations to secure the purity of milk.

1 Power to make regulations to secure the purity of milk.

(1) Provision may be made by regulations under this Part of this Act, to be called ‘Milk and Dairies Regulations’—

(a ) for the inspection of cattle on dairy farms;

(b ) for the inspection of dairies, and of persons in or about dairies who have access to the milk, or to the churns or other milk vessels;

(c ) with respect to the lighting, ventilation, cleansing, drainage, and water supply of dairies;

(d ) for securing the cleanliness of churns and other milk vessels and appliances;

(e ) prescribing the precautions to be taken for protecting milk against infection or contamination;

(f ) for preventing danger to health from the sale of infected, contaminated or dirty milk, and in particular for prohibiting the supply or sale of milk suspected of being infected;

(g ) for imposing obligations on dairymen and their employees in regard to cases of infectious illness;

(h ) for regulating the cooling, storage, conveyance and distribution of milk;

(i ) with respect to the labelling, marking or identification, and the sealing or closing of churns and other vessels used for the conveyance of milk, the labelling of vessels in which milk is sold or offered or exposed for sale or delivered, and the display of the vendor's name and address on any stall, or any cart, barrow or other vehicle, from which milk is sold or delivered;

(j ) in cases where no express provision is made by the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, or this Act, prohibiting or restricting—

(i) the addition of any substance to, or the abstraction of fat or any other constituent from, milk;

(ii) the sale of milk to which any such addition, or from which any such abstraction, has been made, or which has been otherwise artificially treated;

(k ) for preventing danger to health from the importation of milk.

In this subsection the expression ‘milk’ means milk intended for sale or sold for human consumption, or intended for manufacture into products for sale for human consumption.

(2) Regulations made under paragraph (i ) or paragraph (j ) of the foregoing subsection shall not apply in relation to cream in so far as they are made for any purpose for which regulations with respect to cream may be made under paragraph (b ) or paragraph (c ) of subsection (1) of section eight of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938 (which authorise the making of regulations requiring the labelling or marking of food containers and regulating the composition of food).

S-2 Registration of dairymen under regulations.

2 Registration of dairymen under regulations.

(1) Milk and Dairies Regulations may provide for the registration of persons carrying on, or proposing to carry on, the trade of a dairyman and for the registration of dairies, and for prohibiting any person from carrying on the said trade unless he and any premises used by him as a dairy are duly registered.

(2) Part I of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to refusing or cancelling the registration of dairymen.

S-3 Registration of dairy farms and dairy farmers under regulations.

3 Registration of dairy farms and dairy farmers under regulations.

(1) Milk and Dairies Regulations shall provide for the registration by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of dairy farms and of persons carrying on, or proposing to carry on, the trade of a dairy farmer.

(2) Such regulations shall make provision in accordance with Part II of the First Schedule to this Act for dealing with the refusal and cancellation of any such registration.

Ancillary provisions as to Milk and Dairies Regulations

Ancillary provisions as to Milk and Dairies Regulations

S-4 Provisions as to making of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

4 Provisions as to making of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

(1) The power of making Milk and Dairies Regulations shall be exercisable by the Minister of Health, the Minister of Food and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries acting jointly.

(2) The Ministers before making the regulations shall consult with such representative organisations as they think fit.

(3) The regulations may be general regulations or regulations limited to a particular area.

S-5 Committees to review working of regulations.

5 Committees to review working of regulations.

5. Milk and Dairies Regulations shall provide for the constitution of a central committee, and of county committees for the several administrative counties, to keep under review the operation and administration of the regulations and to make recommendations with respect thereto, in the case of the central committee, to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and, in the case of a county committee, to the central committee.

S-6 Ancillary provisions as to contents of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

6 Ancillary provisions as to contents of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

6. Without prejudice to the generality of other provisions of this Part of this Act as to Milk and Dairies Regulations, such regulations may—

a ) apply, as respects matters to be dealt with by the regulations any provision in the Food and Drugs Act, 1938 or in this Act, or in any other Act dealing with the like matters, with the necessary modifications and adaptations
b ) provide for an appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction against any refusal or other decision of an authority by whom the regulations are to be enforced and executed;
c ) authorise the making of charges for the purposes of the regulations or for any services performed thereunder and provide for the recovery of charges so made;
d ) make such ancillary and incidental provisions as appear to the Ministers making the regulations to be necessary or desirable.
S-7 Enforcement of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

7 Enforcement of Milk and Dairies Regulations.

(1) Milk and Dairies Regulations shall specify the authorities, whether county councils, local authorities, Food and Drugs authorities or port health authorities, by whom they are to be enforced and executed, and may provide for the giving of assistance and information by any authority concerned in the administration of the regulations, or of this Act, or of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, to any other authority so concerned for the purposes of their respective duties thereunder:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply to the enforcement or execution of regulations in respect of dairy farms or in respect of the registration of persons carrying on or proposing to carry on the trade of a dairy farmer, except any such regulation as is made for the purposes of paragraph (f ) or paragraph (g ) of subsection (1) of section one of this Act.

(2) The power of a county council or local authority under subsection (3) of section sixty-five of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, to institute proceedings under any regulation made under that Act shall not include power to institute proceedings against any person for contravening or failing to comply with Milk and Dairies Regulations in respect of a dairy farm or in respect of the registration of persons carrying on or proposing to carry on the trade of a dairy farmer, except any such regulation as is made for the purposes of paragraph (f ) or paragraph (g ) of subsection (1) of section one of this Act.

(3) Any expenses incurred by a county council in the enforcement and execution of Milk and Dairies Regulations shall, if the Minister of Health by order so directs, be defrayed as expenses for special county purposes charged on such part of the county as may be provided by the order, but any such order may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order.

(4) The Minister of Health may, with the approval of the Treasury, repay out of moneys provided by Parliament such part, not exceeding three quarters, as he may with such approval determine of any sums paid by a local authority by way of compensation to any person for damage or loss sustained by him by reason of any prohibition or restriction imposed by Milk and Dairies Regulations on the sale, supply or use of milk which is infected or suspected of being infected.

(5) Milk and Dairies Regulations may in particular provide for imposing on persons contravening or failing to comply with the regulations penalties not exceeding the following, that is to say—

(i) for a first offence a fine of twenty pounds;

(ii) for a subsequent offence a fine of one hundred pounds or imprisonment for three months or both.

(6) Milk and Dairies Regulations may in particular provide for the taking and examination of samples.

Prohibitions on sale of milk not in a pure and genuine condition

Prohibitions on sale of milk not in a pure and genuine condition

S-8 Prohibition of sale of tuberculous milk, and milk of cows suffering from tuberculosis, &c.

8 Prohibition of sale of tuberculous milk, and milk of cows suffering from tuberculosis, &c.

(1) No person shall—

(a ) sell, or offer or expose for sale, for human consumption; or

(b ) use in the manufacture of products for sale for human consumption,

the milk of any cow which to his knowledge has given tuberculous milk, or is suffering from emaciation due to tuberculosis, or from tuberculosis of the udder or any other disease of cows to which this section applies.

(2) In proceedings under this section, the defendant shall be deemed to have known that a cow had given tuberculous milk, or was so suffering as aforesaid,...

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