CHAPTER
236
FOOD |
ARRANGEMENT OF
SECTIONS |
PART I
PRELIMINARY |
SECTION |
|
|
PART II
GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FOOD |
Offences in connection with injurious or
adulterated food. |
False labelling or advertisement of food by
manufacturers, etc. |
|
Sale of food not of the nature, substance or
quality demanded. |
Preparation of food under insanitary conditions. |
PART III
IMPORTATION, WARRANTY AND DEFENCES |
|
|
|
PART IV
REGULATIONS |
|
PART V
ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT |
Appointment of Food Board. |
Appointment and duties of authorized officers. |
Appointment of a director of a laboratory. |
Powers of authorized officers. |
Other authorized officers. |
Power of Minister to obtain particulars of
certain food ingredients. |
PART VI
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
Power of court to order licence to be cancelled
and food to be disposed of. |
Magistrate's court to have jurisdiction. |
|
Certificate to be prima facie evidence. |
Functions of Minister for Health. |
CHAPTER 236 |
FOOD |
An Act to
regulate the manufacture of food, to provide for quality control, testing and
certification, for food processing and preservation and for matters incidental
thereto and connected therewith. | 1 of 1985 |
[Assent 1st
November, 1985]
[Commencement 31st December, 1985] |
PART I
PRELIMINARY |
1. This Act may be cited as the Food Act. | Short title. |
2. In this Act- | Interpretation. |
"advertisement"
includes any representation by any means whatsoever for the purpose of
promoting directly or indirectly the sale or disposal of any food; |
"authorised
officer" has the meaning assigned to it by section 13; |
"Board"
means the Food Board established by section 12; |
"director"
means the director of a laboratory appointed under section 14; |
"food"
includes- |
(a) any article
used for food or drink by man, other than drugs or water; and |
(b) any article
which ordinarily enters into or is used in the composition or preparation of
human food; and |
(c) any
flavouring matters, condiments and chewing substances; |
"insanitary
conditions" means such conditions or circumstances as might cause
contamination of food, with dirt or filth or might render the same injurious or
dangerous to health; |
"label"
includes any tag, brand, logo, mark, pictorial or other descriptive matter,
written, printed, stencilled, marked, belonging to, or accompanying any food; |
"laboratory"
means a laboratory operated by authorised officers under this Act, and
designated by the Minister, as a laboratory for the purposes of this Act; |
"Minister"
means the Minister responsible for the manufacture, processing and preserving
of food; |
"package"
includes anything in which any food is wholly or partly placed or packed and
includes any basket, pail, tray or receptacle of any kind whether open or
closed; |
"premises
includes- |
(a) any
building or tent or other structure, permanent or otherwise, together with the
land on which the same is situated and any adjoining land used in connection
therewith and includes any vehicle, conveyance or vessel; and |
(b) for the
purpose of section 15, a reference to premises shall be deemed to include
reference to any street, open space or place of public resort, bicycle or other
vehicle used for the preparation, preservation, packaging, storage or
conveyance of any article; |
"preparation"
means manufacture, processing or preserving of food; |
"sell"
includes offer for sale, expose for sale, exchange or otherwise dispose of for
any consideration whatsoever for the purpose of human consumption; |
"ship"
includes any boat or craft. |
PART II
GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FOOD |
3. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section any
person who in the preparation of food, adds any substance to food, uses any substance
as an ingredient in food, abstracts any constituent from food or subjects food
to any other process or treatment so as to render the food injurious to health
with intent that the food shall be sold for human consumption in that state, is
guilty of an offence. | Offences in connection with injurious or adulterated
food. |
(2) In determining
for the purpose of this Act whether food is injurious to health, regard shall
be had not only to the probable effect of that food on the health of the person
consuming it but also to the probable cumulative effects of food of
substantially the same composition on the health of a person consuming such
food in ordinary quantities. |
4. (1) Any person who prepares food and gives with such
food sold by him or displays with any such food exposed by him for sale, a
label, whether attached to or printed on the wrapper or container or not,
which- | False labelling or advertisement of food by
manufacturers etc. |
(a) falsely
describes the food; or |
(b) is
calculated to mislead as to the nature, substance or quantity of any food, |
is guilty of
an offence, unless he proves that he did not know and could not with reasonable
diligence have ascertained, that the label was of such a character as
aforesaid. |
(2) Subject to the
subsection (3), any person who publishes, or is a party to the publication of
an advertisement (not being a label so given or displayed by him as aforesaid)
which- |
(a) falsely
describes any food; or |
(b) is
calculated to mislead as to the nature, substance or quality of any food, |
is guilty of
an offence, and in any proceedings under this subsection it shall rest on the
defendant to prove that he did not publish and was not a party to the
publication of the advertisement. |
(3) Where a person
is charged with an offence under subsection (2), it shall be a defence for him
to prove either- |
(a) that he did
not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that the
advertisement was of such a character as is described in that subsection; or |
(b) that being
a person whose business it is to publish or arrange for the publication of
advertisements, he received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary
course of business. |
(4) For the
purposes of this section, a label or advertisement which is calculated to
mislead as to nutritional or dietary value of any food, is deemed to be
calculated to mislead as to the quality of the food. |
5. Where standards have been prescribed for the
preparation of food by regulations made under this Act, any person who prepares
food which does not comply with those standards is guilty of an offence. | Standards of food. |
6. Any person who sells to the prejudice of the
purchaser, any food which is not of the nature, substance, or quality, of the
food demanded by the purchaser, is guilty of an offence. | Sale of food not of the nature, substance or quality
demanded. |
7. Any person who prepares any food under insanitary
conditions is guilty of an offence. | Preparation of food under insanitary conditions. |
PART III
IMPORTATION, WARRANTY & DEFENCES |
8. (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), any
person who imports any food into The Bahamas which does not comply with the
provisions of this Act is guilty of an offence. | Importation. |
(2) Where any food
sought to be imported into The Bahamas would, if imported into The Bahamas,
constitute a contravention of this Act, the food may be imported into The
Bahamas for the purpose of satisfactorily re-labelling or re-conditioning the
same so that the provisions of this Act are complied with and, where such
re-labelling or re-conditioning is not carried out within three months of the
importation, such food shall be exported by the importer within a further
period of one month or such other period as the Minister may determine and,
where it is not so exported, it shall be forfeited and disposed of as the
Minister may direct. |
9. (1) No person who manufactures, processes or
preserves food and no distributor of, or dealer in or their agents shall sell
any food to any person unless he gives a warranty in writing in the prescribed
form about the nature and quality of such food specifying that the food may
lawfully be sold under the provisions of this Act. | Warranty. |
(2) If any person
contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) or gives a warranty which is
false, he is guilty of an offence. |
10. In any proceedings for an offence under section 9
of this Act, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove- | Defences. |
(a) that he
purchased the food from another person who furnished a written warranty in
compliance with section 9 of this Act, and sold the food in the same condition
the food was in at the time he purchased it; and |
(b) that he
could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained that the sale of the food
would be in contravention of this Act or the regulations. |
PART IV
REGULATIONS |
11. (1) The Minister may make regulations for giving
effect to and carrying out the provisions of this Act and without prejudice to
the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may- | Regulations. |
(a) impose requirements
as to, and otherwise regulate the preparation of food; |
(b) impose
requirements as to, and otherwise regulate the labelling, marking, advertising
and packaging of food by persons preparing such food; |
(c) impose
requirements as to and otherwise regulate the importation or exportation of
prepared food; |
(d) prescribe
chemical, microbiological or other standards for the preparation of food or any
of the ingredients of such food; |
(e) prescribe
standards of composition, strength, potency, purity, quality or other property
of any prepared food; |
(f) provide
for the inspection, examination, sampling, analysis, testing, certification,
seizure, condemnation, destruction or other disposal of prepared food; |
(g) prescribe
standards for and the inspection of factories, markets, slaughterhouses,
dairies and other places where food is prepared and for the enforcement of such
standards; |
(h) provide for
the licensing of premises where food is prepared and for persons preparing such
food; |
(i) require,
prohibit or regulate the use of any process or treatment for the preparation of
any food or any class of food; |
(j) provide
for the exemption of any food from any or all of the provisions of this Act; |
(k) prohibit or
regulate the addition of any specified substance to food or any class of such
food, or the use of such substance as an ingredient in the preparation of such
food; |
(l) prescribe
anything which is to be or which may be prescribed under this Act; |
(m) generally
for giving effect to the provisions of this Act. |
(2) Regulations
made under subsection (1) may provide that any person contravening any of the
provisions thereof is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
therefor to a fine of one thousand dollars. |
(3) Where any
regulations made under this Act or under any other Act prohibit or restrict the
addition of any ingredient or material to any food, the addition of the
ingredient or material, if made in contravention of the regulations, shall, for
the purpose of this Act, be deemed to render the food injurious to health. |
(4) Where any
regulations made under this Act or any other Act prescribe the composition of
any food or prohibit or restrict the addition of any ingredient or material to
any such food, the purchaser of such food shall, unless the contrary is proved,
be deemed for the purpose of this Act to have demanded food complying with the
provisions of the regulations as regards the presence or amount of any
constituent, ingredient or material specified in the regulations. |
PART V
ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT |
12. (1) The Minister shall appoint a Board to advise
him on matters relevant to this Act and to carry out such functions as he may
determine. | Appointment of Food Board. |
(2) The Board
shall consist of such persons with experience in manufacturing, marketing,
distributing or consumption of food or experience in scientific or
technological matters affecting food and any other persons as he may determine. |
(3) The Board
shall make reports to the Minister from time to time and, unless he determines
otherwise, those reports shall be published. |
(4) If the
Minister so determines, he may establish groups under the auspices of the Board
to deal with particular matters of aspects of food standards and food safety. |
13. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may
appoint any suitably qualified person to be an authorized officer for the
purpose of this Act. | Appointment and duties of authorized officers. |
(2) No person
shall be appointed to be an authorized officer for any area in which he is
engaged directly or indirectly in any trade or business connected with the
preparation of food. |
(3) Every medical
officer of health and every health officer shall by virtue of their
appointments be deemed to be authorized officers for the purpose of this Act. |
14. (1) The Minister shall appoint an authorized
officer as director of a laboratory. | Appointment of director of a laboratory. |
(2) The director
shall analyse or examine any sample taken by an authorised officer in pursuance
of this Act. |
(3) The director
shall issue a certificate specifying the result of the analysis or examination
to the authorized officer and such certificate shall be in such form as may be
prescribed by the Minister. |
15. (1) An authorized officer may, at any hour
reasonable for the proper performance of his duty- | Powers of authorized officer. |
(a) enter any
premises where he believes any food to which his Act applies is prepared,
packaged, stored or conveyed, and examine any such food and take samples
thereof, and examine anything that he believes is used, or is capable of being
used for such preparation, packaging, storing or conveying; |
(b) stop,
search or detain any aircraft, ship or vehicle in which he believes on
reasonable grounds that any food subject to the provisions of this Act is being
conveyed and examine any such food and take samples thereof for the purposes of
this Act; |
(c) open and
examine any package which he believes contains any food to which this Act
applies; |
(d) examine any
books, documents or other records found in any premises mentioned in paragraph
(a) that he believes contain any information relevant to the enforcement of
this Act with respect to any food to which this Act applies and make copies
thereof or take extracts therefrom; and |
(e) seize
detain for such time as may be necessary any food by means of or in relation to
which he believes any provisions of this Act have been contravened. |
(2) An authorised
officer acting under this section shall, if so required, produce his authority. |
(3) Any owner,
occupier or person in charge of any premises entered by an authorized officer
pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection (1), or any person found therein who
does not give to the authorised officer all reasonable assistance in his power
and furnish him with such information as he may reasonably require, is guilty
of an offence. |
(4) Any person who
obstructs or impedes any authorized officer in the course of his duties or
prevents or attempts to prevent the execution by the authorized officer of his
duty under this Act is guilty of an offence. |
(5) Any person who
knowingly makes any false or misleading statement either verbally or in writing
to any authorized officer engaged in carrying out his duties under this Act
shall be guilty of an offence. |
(6) An authorized
officer shall release any food seized by him under this Act when he is
satisfied that all the provisions of this Act with respect thereto have been
complied with. |
(7) Where an
authorized officer has seized food under this Act and the owner thereof or the
person in whose possession the food was at the time of seizure consents to the
destruction thereof, the food may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the
authorized officer may direct; if the owner or such person does not consent to
the destruction of the food the authorized officer may apply to a court for the
destruction or disposal of such food and the court may make such order as it
may deem fit. |
(8) Where any food
has been seized under the provisions of subsection (1) and the owner thereof
has been convicted of an offence under the Act, the court shall condemn such
food and order it destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the court may direct. |
(9) Any person who
removes, alters or interferes in any way with food seized under this Act
without the authority of an authorized officer is guilty of an offence. |
(10) Any food
seized under this Act may, at the option of an authorized officer be kept or
stored in the premises where it was seized or may at the direction of an authorized
officer be removed to any other proper place. |
(11) An authorized
officer may submit any food seized by him or any sample therefrom or any sample
taken by him to a laboratory for analysis or examination. |
16. The Minister may, in relation to any matter
appearing to him to affect the general interests of the consumer, direct a
public officer to procure for analysis samples of any food, and thereupon that
officer shall have all the powers of an authorized officer under this Act, and
this Act shall apply as if the officer were an authorized officer. | Other authorized officers. |
17. (1) The Minister may direct any person who, at the
date of the direction or at any subsequent time carries on a business which
includes the production, importation or use of any substances commonly used in
the preparation of food, to furnish him, within such time as may be specified
in such direction, such particulars, as may be so specified, of the composition
and the use of any such substance in the preparation of food. | Power of Minister to obtain particulars of certain
food ingredients. |
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), a direction made thereunder may
require the following particulars to be furnished in respect of any such
substance, that is to say- |
(a) particulars
of the composition and chemical formula of the substance; |
(b) particulars
of the manner in which the substance is used or proposed to be used in the
preparation of food; |
(c) particulars
of investigations carried out by or to the knowledge of any person carrying on
the business in question, for the purpose of determining whether and to what
extent the substance, or any product formed when the substance is used as
aforesaid, is injurious to, or in any other way affects, health; |
(d) particulars
of any investigation or enquiries carried out by or to the knowledge of the
person carrying on the business in question and which are being carried out for
the purpose of determining the cumulative effect on the health of a person
consuming the substance in ordinary quantities. |
(3) No particulars
furnished in accordance with a direction under this section and no information
relating to any individual business obtained by means of such particulars
shall, without the previous consent in writing of the person carrying on the
business in question, be disclosed except in due discharge of the Minister's
duties under this Act, and any person who discloses any such particulars or
information in contravention of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence. |
PART VI
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
18. (1) On the conviction of any person for any
offence under this Act, the court may, in addition to any other penalty which
it may lawfully impose, cancel any licence issued to such person under this Act
or the regulations. | Power of court to order licence to be cancelled and
food to be disposed of. |
(2) Where a person
has been convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may order that any
food by means of or in relation to which the offence was committed or anything
of a similar nature belonging to or in the possession of the convicted person
found with such food, be forfeited, and upon such order being made such food
and things may be disposed of as the court may direct. |
19. (1) Where a laboratory having analysed or examined
any food to which this Act applies, has given its certificate and from that
certificate it appears that an offence under this Act has been committed, an
authorized officer may take proceedings under this Act before any magistrate's
court having jurisdiction in the place where the food was sold or in the place
where the food was actually delivered to the purchaser or the place where the
sample of such food was taken. | Magistrates' court to have jurisdiction. |
(2) In any
proceedings under this Act, the contents of any package appearing to be intact
and in the original state of packing by the person who manufactured, processed
or preserved the food shall be deemed, unless the contrary is proved, to be a
food of the description specified on the label. |
20. A person found guilty of an offence under this Act
for which no special penalty is provided shall be liable on summary conviction- | Penalties. |
(a) in the case
of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such fine and
imprisonment; |
(b) in the case
of a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand five hundred
dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such
fine and imprisonment. |
21. In any proceedings under this Act- | Certificate to be prima facie evidence. |
(a) a
certificate of analysis purporting to be signed by the director of a laboratory
shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein
provided that- |
(i) the
party against whom it is produced may require the attendance of the authorized
officer performing the analysis for the purpose of cross-examination; and |
(ii) no
such certificate of a laboratory shall be received in evidence unless the party
intending to produce it has before the trial given the party against whom it is
intended to be produced reasonable notice of such intention together with a
copy of the certificate; |
(b) evidence
that a package containing any food to which this Act applies, bears a name,
address or registered mark of a person described as manufacturers or packagers
shall be prima facie evidence that such article was manufactured or
packed, as the case may be by that person; |
(c) any
substance commonly used in the preparation of food, if found on premises where
the preparation of food is carried out, shall be presumed until the contrary is
proved, to be intended for use in the preparation of such food; |
(d) any
substance capable of being used in the preparation of any food, if found on
premises on which that food is prepared shall, until the contrary is proved, be
presumed to be intended for such use. |
22. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as
affecting or derogating from the functions of the Minister responsible for
Health. | Functions of Minister for Health. |