Food Adulteration and Its Detection / With photomicrographic plates and a bibliographical appendix

by Jesse P. Battershall

Persons selling milk from carriages to be licensed. Public Statutes, chap. 57, § 3.

3. In all cities, and in all towns in which there is an inspector of milk, every person who conveys milk in carriages or otherwise for the purpose of selling the same in such city or town shall annually, on the first day of May, or within thirty days thereafter, be licensed by the inspector or inspectors of milk of such city or town to sell milk within the limits thereof, and shall pay to such inspector or inspectors fifty cents each to the use of the city or town. The inspector or inspectors shall pay over monthly to the treasurer of such city or town all sums collected by him or them. Licenses shall be issued only in the names of the owners of carriages or other vehicles, and shall for the purposes of this chapter be conclusive evidence of ownership. No license shall be sold, assigned, or transferred. Each license shall record the name, residence, place of business, number of carriages or other vehicles used, name and residence of every driver or other person engaged in carrying or selling said milk, and the number of the license. Each licensee shall before engaging in the sale of milk, cause his name, the number of his license, and his place of business, to be legibly placed on each outer side of all carriages or vehicles used by him in the conveyance and sale of milk, and he shall report to the inspector or inspectors any change of driver or other person employed by him which may occur during the term of his license. Whoever, without being first licensed under the provisions of this section, sells milk or exposes it for sale from carriages or other vehicles, or has it in his custody or possession with intent so to sell, and whoever violates any of the provisions of this section, shall for a first offence be punished by fine of not less than thirty nor more than one hundred dollars; for a second offence by fine of not less than fifty nor more than three hundred dollars; and for a subsequent offence by fine of fifty dollars and by imprisonment in the house of correction for not less than thirty nor more than sixty days.

Persons selling milk in stores, etc., to be registered. Public Statutes, chap. 57, § 4. 1 Allen, 593. 2 Allen, 157.

4. Every person before selling milk or offering it for sale in a store, booth, stand, or market-place in a city or in a town in which an inspector or inspectors of milk are appointed, shall register in the books of such inspector or inspectors, and shall pay to him or them fifty cents to the use of such city or town; and whoever neglects so to register shall be punished for each offence by fine not exceeding twenty dollars.

Penalty for selling, etc., adulterated milk, etc. Public Statutes, chap. 57, § 5. 9 Allen, 499. 10 Allen, 199. 11 Allen, 264. 107 Mass., 194.

5. Whoever by himself or by his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of any other person, sells, exchanges, or delivers, or has in his custody or possession with intent to sell or exchange, or exposes or offers for sale or exchange, adulterated milk, or milk to which water or any foreign substance has been added, or milk produced from cows fed on the refuse of distilleries or from sick or diseased cows, shall for a first offence be punished by fine of not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars; for a second offence by fine of not less than one hundred nor more than three hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not less than thirty nor more than sixty days; and for a subsequent offence by fine of fifty dollars and by imprisonment in the house of correction for not less than sixty nor more than ninety days.

Penalty for selling milk from which cream has been removed. Public Statutes, chap. 57, § 6.

6. Whoever by himself or by his servant or as the servant or agent of any other person, sells, exchanges, or delivers, or has in his custody or possession with intent to sell or exchange, or exposes or offers for sale as pure milk, any milk from which the cream or a part thereof has been removed, shall be punished by the penalties provided in the preceding section.

Vessels containing milk from which cream has been removed to be marked “skimmed milk.” Public Statutes, chap. 57, § 7.

7. No dealer in milk, and no servant or agent of such a dealer, shall sell, exchange, or deliver, or have in his custody or possession, with intent to sell, exchange, or deliver, milk from which the cream or any part thereof has been removed, unless in a conspicuous place above the centre upon the outside of every vessel, can, or package from or in which such milk is sold, the words “skimmed milk” are distinctly marked in letters not less than one inch in length. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by the penalties provided by section 5.