Food and Drugs Act

FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. ARRANGEMENTS OF SECTIONS. Section PART I INTERPRETATION. 1. Interpretation. PART II GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FOOD AND DRUGS. Composition and labelling of food and drugs . 2. Offences in connection with preparation and sale of injurious foods and adulterated drugs. 3. General protection for purchasers of food and drugs. 4. Defences available in proceedings under section 3. 5. False labelling or advertisement of food or drug. Food unfit for human consumption . 6. Offence to sell, etc. food unfit for human consumption. 7. Examination and seizure of suspected food. 8. Food offered as prizes. 9. Power to examine food in course of transit. Registration of premises in connection with sale of particular foods . 10. Registration of premises. 11. Application for registration. 12. Refusal or cancellation of registration. Food poisoning . 13. Cases of food poisoning to be notified. 14. Inspection and control of infected food. PART III MILK AND CREAM SUBSTITUTES. 15. Prohibition of sale of milk from diseased cows. 16. Adulteration of milk. 17. Misuse of designation "cream" in relation to cream substitutes. PART IV ADMINISTRATION, ENFORCEMENT AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

. Adulteration of milk. 17. Misuse of designation "cream" in relation to cream substitutes. PART IV ADMINISTRATION, ENFORCEMENT AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

Administration . 18. Meaning of "authorised officer". Sampling and analysis . 19. Powers of sampling. 20. Right to have samples analysed. 21. Provisions as to samples taken for analysis. 22. Special provisions as to sampling of milk and subsequent proceedings. 23. Provision as to cases in which division of sample into parts is impracticable. Enforcement . 24. Power to enter premises. 25. Power to enter ships, trains, aircraft, vehicles, etc. 26. Restriction on movement of imported food. 27. Persons obstructing execution of the Act. Legal proceedings . 28. Power of court to order licence to be cancelled. 29. Offences by corporations. 30. Prosecutions. 31. Evidence of analysis. 32. Presumptions. 33. Power of court to require analysis by public analyst. 34. Contravention due to default of some other person. 35. Conditions under which warranty may be pleaded as defence. 36. Offences in relation to warranties and certificates of analysis. Appeals . 37. Appeals to the court. 38. Right to carry on business pending appeal. 39. Protection for authorised officers acting in good faith. PART V MISCELLANEOUS. 40. Food Hygiene Advisory Committee. 41. Regulations.

nding appeal. 39. Protection for authorised officers acting in good faith. PART V MISCELLANEOUS. 40. Food Hygiene Advisory Committee. 41. Regulations.

Schedule Provisions as to the manner in which samples taken or purchased for analysis are to be dealt with. CHAPTER 278 FOOD AND DRUGS ACT. Commencement : 18 June, 1959. An Act to make provision for the prevention of adulteration of food and drugs and for matters incidental thereto and connected therewith. PART I INTERPRETATION. 1. Interpretation.

the prevention of adulteration of food and drugs and for matters incidental thereto and connected therewith. PART I INTERPRETATION. 1. Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— ( a ) "advertisement" includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper, invoice or other document, and any public announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light or sound, and "advertise" shall be construed accordingly; ( b ) "analysis" includes microbiological assay, and "analyse" shall be construed accordingly; ( c ) "animal" does not include bird or fish; ( d ) "area" means, in relation to a local authority and to officers of the local authority, the area which is under the jurisdiction of that local authority; ( e ) "article" does not include a live animal or bird; ( f ) "authorised officer" has the meaning assigned to it by section 18; ( g ) "business" includes the undertaking of a canteen, club, school, hospital or institution whether carried on for profit or not, and any undertaking or activity carried on by a local authority; ( h ) "catering premises" means premises where, in the course of business, food is prepared and supplied for immediate consumption on the premises; ( i ) "cheese" means the substance usually known as cheese, containing no fat other than fat derived from milk; ( j ) "container" includes any basket, pail, tray, package or receptacle of any kind, whether open or closed; ( k ) "court" means a court having jurisdiction; ( l ) "cream" means that part of milk rich in fat which has been separated by skimming or otherwise; ( m ) "dairy" — (i) includes any farm, cowshed, milking house, milk store, milk shop or other premises from which milk is supplied on or for sale, or in which milk is kept or used for purposes of sale or for the purposes of manufacture into butter, cheese, dried milk or condensed milk for sale, or in which vessels used for the sale of milk are kept; but (ii) does not include a shop from which milk is supplied only in the properly closed and unopened vessels in which it is delivered to the shop, or a shop or other place in which milk is sold for consumption on the premises only; ( n ) "dairy farm" means any premises, being a dairy, on which milk is produced from cows; ( o ) "dairy person" includes an occupier of a dairy, a cow keeper, and a purveyor of milk; ( p ) "drug" includes medicine for internal or external use by a person, and cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, dusting powders, essences and unguents for use by a person; and disinfectants, germicides, antiseptics and preservatives for use for any purpose; ( q ) "food" includes drink, chewing gum and other products of a like nature and use, and articles and substances used as ingredients in the preparation of food or drink or of such products, but does not include— (i) water, live animals or birds; (ii) fodder or feeding stuffs for animals, birds or fish; or (iii) articles or substances used only as drugs; ( r ) "functions" includes powers and duties; ( s ) "health inspector" means any health inspector or sanitary inspector in the service of the Government or of a local authority; ( t ) "human consumption" includes use in the preparation of food for human consumption; ( u ) "ice cream" includes any preparation sold under the name of ice cream or any similar title whether containing milk or cream or not; ( v ) "local authority" means— (i) the municipal council in the case of a municipality; (ii) the town council in the case of a town; (iii) any person or body of persons appointed by the Minister by statutory instrument to be the local authority for the purposes of this Act for any particular area of Uganda; (iv) the district commissioner in the case of any area outside a municipality or town and for which no local authority has been appointed; ( w ) "medical officer of health" includes any person appointed as a medical officer of health and any medical practitioner in the service of the Government or other medical practitioner appointed by the chief medical officer to act as such in any area; ( x ) "medical practitioner" means a person who is registered or licensed as such under any law in force in Uganda governing the registration or licensing of medical practitioners; ( y ) "milk" includes cream and separated milk, but does not include dried milk or condensed milk; ( z ) "officer" includes servant; ( aa ) "premises" means a building or part of a building and any forecourt, yard or place of storage used in connection with a building or part of a building, and includes, in relation to dairies and dairy farms, and the trade of dairy person or dairy farmer, any land other than buildings; ( bb ) "preparation" in relation to food, includes manufacture and any form of treatment, and "preparation for sale" includes packaging, and "prepare" and "prepare for sale" shall be construed accordingly; ( cc ) "public analyst" means a person appointed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette to act in the capacity of analyst for the purposes of this Act; ( dd ) "purveyor" , in relation to milk, includes any person who sells milk, whether wholesale or by retail; ( ee ) "sanitary convenience" means a latrine, privy, urinal, water-closet, pit latrine or earth-closet; ( ff ) "separated" , in relation to milk, includes skimmed; ( gg ) "ship" includes any boat or craft; ( hh ) "substance" includes a liquid; ( ii ) "transit" includes all stages of transit from the dairy, place of manufacture or other source of origin, to the consumer; ( jj ) "vessel" includes a receptacle of any kind, whether open or closed.

the dairy, place of manufacture or other source of origin, to the consumer; ( jj ) "vessel" includes a receptacle of any kind, whether open or closed.

PART II GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FOOD AND DRUGS. Composition and labelling of food and drugs. 2. Offences in connection with preparation and sale of injurious foods and adulterated drugs. (1) No person shall add any substance to food, use any substance as an ingredient in the preparation of food, abstract any constituent from food or subject food to any other process or treatment so as in any such case to render the food injurious to health, with intent that the food shall be sold for human consumption in that state. (2) No person shall add any substance to, or abstract any constituent from, a drug so as to affect injuriously the quality, constitution or potency of the drug, with intent that the drug shall be sold in that state.

uent from, a drug so as to affect injuriously the quality, constitution or potency of the drug, with intent that the drug shall be sold in that state.

(3) Subject to this section, no person shall— ( a ) sell for human consumption, offer, expose or advertise for sale for human consumption, or have in his or her possession for the purpose of such sale, any food rendered injurious to health by means of any operation described in subsection (1); or ( b ) sell, offer, expose or advertise for sale or have in his or her possession for the purpose of sale, any drug injuriously affected in its quality, constitution or potency by means of any operation described in subsection (2). (4) Any person who contravenes any of the foregoing provisions of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment. (5) In determining for the purposes of this Act whether an article of food is injurious to health, regard shall be had not only to the probable effect of that article on the health of a person consuming it, but also to the probable cumulative effect of articles of substantially the same composition on the health of a person consuming those articles in ordinary quantities.

robable cumulative effect of articles of substantially the same composition on the health of a person consuming those articles in ordinary quantities.

(6) In proceedings under this section for an offence consisting of the advertisement for sale of any food or drug, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that, being a person whose business it is to publish, or arrange for the publication of, advertisements, he or she received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business. 3. General protection for purchasers of food and drugs. (1) If a person sells to the prejudice of the purchaser any food or drug which is not of the nature, or not of the substance, or not of the quality, of the food or drug demanded by the purchaser, he or she, subject to section 4, commits an offence. (2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings. (3) In proceedings under this section it shall not be a defence to allege that the purchaser bought for analysis or examination and therefore was not prejudiced. (4) In this section, except so far as it relates to drugs, the reference to sale shall be construed as a reference to sale for human consumption. 4. Defences available in proceedings under section 3.

to drugs, the reference to sale shall be construed as a reference to sale for human consumption. 4. Defences available in proceedings under section 3.

(1) In proceedings under section 3 for an offence consisting of the sale of food to which any substance has been added, or in the preparation of which any substance has been used as an ingredient, or from which any constituent has been abstracted, or which has been subjected to any other process or treatment, other than food thereby rendered injurious to health, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that the operation in question was not carried out fraudulently, and that the article was sold having attached to it a notice of adequate size, distinctly and legibly printed and conspicuously visible, stating explicitly the nature of the operation, or was sold in a wrapper or container displaying such a notice. (2) The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply in relation to proceedings for an offence consisting of the sale of a drug to which any substance has been added, or from which any constituent has been abstracted, other than a drug thereby injuriously affected in its quality, constitution or potency, as they apply in relation to any offence mentioned in that subsection.

an a drug thereby injuriously affected in its quality, constitution or potency, as they apply in relation to any offence mentioned in that subsection.

(3) In proceedings under section 3 in respect of any food or drug containing some extraneous matter, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the presence of that matter was an unavoidable consequence of the process of collection or preparation. (4) In proceedings under section 3 in respect of diluted whisky, brandy, rum or gin, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the spirit in question had been diluted with water only and that its strength was still not lower than 35 degrees underproof. 5. False labelling or advertisement of food or drug. (1) A person who gives with any food or drug sold by him or her, or displays with any food or drug exposed by him or her for sale, a label whether attached to or printed on the wrapper or container or not, which— ( a ) falsely describes the food or drug; or ( b ) is calculated to mislead as to its nature, substance or quality, commits an offence, unless he or she proves that he or she did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that the label was of such a character as aforesaid, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings.

diligence have ascertained, that the label was of such a character as aforesaid, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), a person who publishes, or is a party to the publication of an advertisement, not being such a label so given or displayed by him or her as aforesaid, which— ( a ) falsely describes any food or drug; or ( b ) is calculated to mislead as to the nature, substance or quality of any food or drug, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings. (3) In proceedings under subsection (2), it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove either— ( a ) that he or she 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 or she received the advertisement for publication in the ordinary course of business. (4) It is declared that, for the purposes of this section, a label or advertisement which is calculated to mislead as to the nutritional or dietary value of any food is calculated to mislead as to the quality of the food.

dvertisement which is calculated to mislead as to the nutritional or dietary value of any food is calculated to mislead as to the quality of the food.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under this section, the fact that a label or advertisement in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed contained an accurate statement of the composition of the food or drug shall not preclude the court from finding that the offence was committed. (6) In this section, except so far as it relates to drugs, a reference to sale shall be construed as a reference to sale for human consumption. Food unfit for human consumption. 6. Offence to sell, etc. food unfit for human consumption. (1) Subject to this section, any person who— ( a ) sells, or offers or exposes for sale, or has in his or her possession for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale; or ( b ) deposits with or consigns to any person for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale, any food intended for, but unfit for, human consumption, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

n conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(2) Subject as aforesaid, where food in respect of which an offence under subsection (1)( a ) has been committed was sold to the offender by some other person, that person also commits an offence and is liable to the penalties prescribed in that subsection. (3) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1)( b ) or (2), it shall be a defence for him or her to prove either— ( a ) that he or she gave notice to the person with whom he or she deposited, or to whom he or she consigned or sold, the food in question that it was not intended for human consumption; or ( b ) that, at the time when he or she delivered or dispatched it to that person, either it was fit for human consumption or he or she did not know, and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained, that it was unfit for human consumption. 7. Examination and seizure of suspected food. (1) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times examine any food intended for human consum This section of the article is only available for our subscribers. Please click here to subscribe to a subscription plan to view this part of the article.

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