TAINTED FLOUR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20106, 27 March 1928, Page 8

TAINTED FLOUR

A BAKER’S GAMBLE LARGE STOCK GOES TO WASTE For not providing adequate protection from dust and vermin to a quantity of Hour he had stored on his premises. a baker named Charles James Gordon, appeared at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning. Inspector Fear said that when he had visited the bakehouse in Carlton Av.nuc he had found 10(1 sacks of flour stored there, while in The storeroom ar. the back of the premises was another large quantity. Altogther 42 tons were stored on the place. Rats had burrowed their way into some of the sacks and there was a lot of filch and dust about .he piles. The place smelt of rats and this was the first thing that he had noticed when he entered tin* room. Senior Sergeant Lopd*4l had also visited the premises, and he had taken samples of the flour in the sa<-ks near the top and at the bottom. In both cases he had found Defendant, when interviewed, said he had bought this big quantity of flour in anticipation of a rise in price. He had also stated that he had sold the condemn 1 portion to the Wanganui “Chronicle,” but investigations showed that no such arrangement had been made, though the company was prepared only to buy one sack at a time. The inspector had seized four tons of the flour and defendant had disposed of rhe remainder by selling it as pig food. A substantial penalty was asked for. For the defendant, Air L. Cohen, stated that the former was not a baker himself. but only attended to the distribution of the bread. In July last year defendant had gambled ami bought 90 tons, as in view of the raising of the duty, he had thought the price of flour would go up. This, of course, ha*l not happened. No flour that was tainted by vermin had been used for baking purposes. The flour at the back of the building was bad. and he had approached the Wanganui “Chronicle” and certain paperhangers to see if it could be used for paste. No baker in the ordinary Mechanical use of flour would need this enormous quantity, anrl this was an exceptional enterprise on the part of the defendant, who was being charged not with the major offence, but with simply storing his flour so as not to be free from vermin and dust. The present prosecution would do defendant’s business an enormous amount of harm, and in view of this fact, Mr Cohen, asked that the penalty be not. made severe. The Magistrate (Air J. S. Barion)

said he would accept the. facts as stated by Air Cohen, and they would help to mitigate the penalty. At 'rhe same time, he could not. inflict, a light punishment, as the charge wa •• concerned with public. food and he Ith. He would impose a fine of £lO wich costs 10s.