WEIGHTS QUESTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 35, 11 February 1936, Page 10

WEIGHTS QUESTION

2LB AND 4LB. LOAVES

STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS

PUBLIC PROTECTION

The proposals announced by the Minister of Industries and "Commerce for the stabilisation of the prices of wheat, flour, and bread have drawn attention to the weights of loaves of bread, namely 21b loaves and 41d loaves, a subject probably to which few householders have ever given any real thought. There is, however, legislation governing the weight of bread and certain statutory obligations attach to sellers. These are plain, or reasonably so, from a reading of the relevant sections, though just what is plain bread and fancy bread is difficult to arrive at definitively. At any rate, bread is what Section 26 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act deals with, and there is also a section in the Weights and Measures Act covering weights in a more general way. Section 23 of the Weights and Measures Act, 1925, states that every person commits an offence who sells or causes' to be sold or delivers or causes to be delivered to a purchaser anything of weight or measure short of the quantity demanded or represented by the seller. But the position is taken further by Section 26 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, which enacts that every person who sells any loaf weighing less than 41b but more than 31b shall be deemed to represent 'Ihat it weighs 41b unless he stales the true weight at the time of the sale. A loaf weighing less than 21b but more than lib shall be deemed to be a 21b loaf unless the seller states the true weight at ths time the sale is made. NEW ZEALAND CASES. Cases relating to the weight of bread have been taken in New Zealand courts, under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, arid two, both appeals from the Magistrate's Court and which were heard by Mr. Justice Herdman, are of interest as showing the statutory obligations imposed on-the seller of bread. Mr. Justice Herdman has held that the section requires the weight to be stated, and that if a shopkeeper only conveys to the purchaser in a perfunctory way that in his opinion the loaf is not up to Weight that is not enough. The Act imposes upon the seller of a loaf which is under weight the duty of communicating to the purchaser the exact weight of the loaf which he is selling. The words "true weight," his Honour said, '"did not connote an.indefinite statement about the weight of a loaf sold which might or might not be accurate." In a Christchurch case in 3920, Mr. Justice Herdman stated that the Sale of Food and Drugs Act was passed for the protection of the public. It aimed at securing purchasers of food against attempts which careless or unscrupulous traders might make to pass off nrticles which were not up to the standard which the law required, or which, in fact, were below the weight which they appeared to be. Thus, if a baker sold a loaf weighing less than 21b but more than lib he was deemed to have represented that it weighed 21b. In his Honour's opinion, a baker could only escape liability by stating to the buyer of such a loaf its true weight, which meant its precise weight. The duty imposed by the Statute was absolute and clear, and if reference to a dictionary be necessary to ascertain the meaning of the word "true," then, according to Webster, "true" might mean exact or accurate. AN INSPECTOR'S PURCHASE. At Auckland in the following year Mr. Justice Herdman dealt with another case under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. The facts were that an inspector under the Act asked a baker's employee and salesman for a 21b loaf, telling him that he was an inspector, whereupon the employee produced a loaf of the size and shape J usually known as a 21b loaf and st-iUr;: "I don't know about it being 21b. It is sold at not less than lib 140z." At the same time the employee drew the inspector's attention to a notice which was posted up inside the door at the

back of the baker's cart. The notice was as follows:— The bread sold is manufactured I under standard conditions, and every precaution is taken to ensure full weight, but absolute uniformity cannot be assured. An average weight of 21b is guaranteed; but while nearly every loaf will be | found to contain 21b or more, each ' loaf sold is represented to contain ' not less than lib 14oz. The employee handed over the loaf to the inspector who paid the then standard price for a 21b loaf,' which was 6Jd. The loaf so sold was found to weigh lib looz 4drms. AN ABSOLUTE OBLIGATIONHis Honour stated that the statute made it clear that the seller of a loaf less than 21b and more than lib in weight was bound to supply to an intending purchaser definite and accurate information about the weight of the loaf he offers for sale, and if he fails to discharge this duty he does so at his peril. His Honour said that the obligation created by the statute was absolute, and the legislation was designed for the purpose of ensuring that a purchaser of bread should not be deceived about the weight of the loaf he contemplated buying. His Honour was unable to accept the view that the statement cnade by the er>f.>loyee when the sale was made, taken in conjunction with the notice posted up in the cart, amounted to such a representation of the true weight as enabled the baker to escape liability, because no information about the true weight of the loaf was ever supplied to the purchaser. He went further and stated that the employee's statement, together with the notice affixed to the cart, amounted to no more than an intimation that the true weight of the loaf had never been ascertained and was not known. Section 26, correctly interpreted, meant that the buyer of a loaf weighing not less than 21b must not be left in any doubt about the actual weight of the commodity he proposed purchasing. From this brief review two points appear to emerge. The first is whether or not the time has arrived when it is desirable to get down to something more compact in place of the present section 26 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, and the other is whether there should be something very definite laid down defining plain and fancy loaves. For • example, the British Act simply provides that a person shall not sell or. have in his possession for sale or delivery under contract of sale any loaf of bread unless.its net weight is lib or an integral number of pounds. In regard to the second point, the experience of a'"Post" reporter today, referred to above, indicates the difference of opinion existing over plain and fancy loaves.