FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 3 January 1927, Page 3

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

"FAIR" PACKING REGULATIONS

As indicated by the Minister of Agriculture (Hon, 0. J. Hawked) last week, fresh regulations under the Orchard and Garden Diseases Act. 1908, relating to the fait packing of fruit and .vegetables, will be gazetted shortly. ' The new requirements actually will be ah extension of the 1924 regulations, which' they are to supersede, and their aim is the further protection of the purchasing public. lii the 1924 regulations fruit was defined to comprise strawberries, loganberries, raspberries and cherries, but after the appearance of the recentlyframed Order-in-Council it will mean "the unmanufactured edible product of any orchard or garden plant, and includes potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and all other vegetables." All fruit sold (or offered or exposed for sale), whether wholesale or retail, in a container, will have to be packed in such a manner that any fruit exposed to view or that would be exposed to view if the container were opened in the normal manner, fairly represents in size, maturity, and condition the whole contents of the container. Strawberries, loganberries, raspberries, or cherries sold (or offered or exposed for sale) in containers of a capacity not exceeding 31b net weight of the fruit contained in them, must be so packed that the receptacle is full of fruit. "Facing—the methodical arrangement of the individual fruits that, are exposed to view in a container—is nof prohibited, provided the fair packing requirements referred to are complied with."

Failure to observe the obligations imposed by the Order-in-Council will render the offender liable to a fine not exceeding £3O.