Responsibilities of Vendors Under Stock Foods Act

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 74, Issue 2, 15 February 1947, Page 160

Responsibilities of Vendors Under Stock Foods Act

r |pHE Stock Foods Act, 1946, passed during the most recent session of Parliament, will come into operation on June 1. Its purpose is to require vendors of stock foods to disclose to buyers, on an invoice or a label supplied at the time of sale, particulars of the ingredients of any mixed food and its composition so that buyers can assess its value in, comparison with other stock foods on the market.

A STOCK food is defined as any **• substance or preparation manufactured or prepared in whole or in part from one or more kind of grain, seed, plant, oil, juice, meat, fish, or other source and ordinarily used as food for stock. The term stock means cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, and poultry. The proprietor of a stock food is its manufacturer or importer. The Act does not apply to sales of stock foods to persons who buy for their own use and supply the materials for manufacture or preparation, or give written instructions setting out the ingredients and proportions. Branding of Packages Packages of stock food must be branded or labelled with: 1. The name and place of business of the proprietor; 2. The name and trade mark (if any) of the stock food; 3. The gross weight of the package. A meat meal containing less than 60 per cent, of crude protein is deemed - to be a meat-and-bone meal and the packages must be branded or labelled as meat-and-bone meal, but a tolerance of 3 per cent, below the stipulated percentage is allowed. The name to be branded or labelled on packages of bran or pollard must include a description of the grain or seed from which the bran or pollard was derivedfor example, wheaten bran or oaten pollard. Particulars on Invoices' When a stock food is sold the vendor must supply the buyer with an invoice showing: 1. The vendor’s name and place of business; 2. The name and trade mark (if any) of the stock food; 3. The number of packages being sold; 4. The gross weight of each package; 5. In the case of mixed stock foods, the name of each ingredient; 6. Particulars of the chemical composition as stipulated in the first schedule to the Act. • . In the case of a feeding oil the invoice must also state whether .the feeding oil is recommended for feeding to poultry.

If all the particulars to be stated in the invoice are clearly branded or labelled on the packages containing the stock food, it is not necessary to supply an invoice containing the same particulars. . A reseller is protected from liability for a breach of the provisions for branding or labelling packages if the stock food is delivered by his wholesaler directly to the reseller’s customer.. A typical example is that of a dairy company buying stock foods for its suppliers, the goods being consigned directly to the suppliers by the wholesaler. x The branding and labelling particulars or the supplying of invoices are not required when stock foods are sold retail in small lots, but the buyer has the right to inspect, the invoice or label supplied to the reseller when he bought the food for resale. The invoice or label containing the required particulars has effect as a warranty by a vendor to a buyer that: 1. The. stock food contains only the ingredients specified; 2. It is suitable for use as food for stock or for the kind of stock ; specified; 3. The particulars of the number of packages, gross weight, and chemical composition are correct. Inspection and Analysis All Inspectors of Stock are deemed to be inspectors under the Stock Foods Act and are empowered to enter the premises of a vendor and take samples of stock foods for analysis. Samples may 1 also be taken for analysis at the request of a buyer, in which case the vendor has the right to be present when the sample is taken. The inspector must be satisfied that the packages containing the stock food are sound, have been properly stored, and have not been opened or tampered with. The analyst must compare his analysis with the particulars in the invoice or label supplied by the vendor, and if there is a discrepancy, the analyst must state in his certificate whether the discrepancy, after allowing for any prescribed limit of variation, would be materially to the prejudice of a buyer.

If the result of an analysis made at a buyer’s request shows that the stock food is not materially at variance with the particulars in the invoice or label, the vendor is entitled to recover from the buyer any reasonable expenses incurred by him in attending when the sample was taken. , /The results of any analysis made under the Act may he published by the Director-General of Agriculture if in his opinion publication is necessary for the protection of buyers or is otherwise in the public interest. Offences under the Act The following special offences are created by the Act: 1. Selling or offering or sale a stock food which is not in all material respects of the standard of quality, purity, and composition prescribed by regulations; 2. Selling or offering for sale a stock food containing any ingredient injurious to the health of stock, unless the vendor is able to prove that he did not know and could not with reasonable care have known that the food contained an injurious ingredient; 3. Selling or offering for sale a feeding oil containing any mineral oil, unless the vendor is able to prove that he did not know and could not with reasonable care have known that the feeding oil contained mineral oil; 4. Supplying an invoice or label containing a false or misleading statement materially prejudicial to a buyer of the stock food to which . the statement relates; 5. Tampering with samples of stock foods taken in pursuance of the Act; 6. Publishing a circular or advertisement containing a false or misleading statement about the nature, quality, purity, or composition of a stock food that would be materially prejudicial to a buyer. "Injurious Ingredients" The ‘“injurious ingredients” mentioned in paragraph 2 include: All poisonous substances except those naturally present in the material from which the stock food is prepared;

Salts soluble in water if present in proportions likely to injure the health of stock;

Sand, siliceous matter, or other insoluble mineral matter, whether or not naturally associated with an ingredient of the stock food, but where naturally associated if present in greater proportion than the maximum that may be expected to be the result of natural association.