Prohibition of sale etc., of food or drink not of the nature, substance or quality of the article as represented

(1) No person shall directly or indirectly, himself or by any other person on his behalf, sell, expose or hawk for sale, or manu- facture or store for sale, any article of food or drink which is not of the nature, substance, or quality it is represented to be: Provided that an offence shall not be deemed to be committed under this section in the following cases, namely:—

1. (a) where any matter or ingredient not injurious to health has been added to any

article of food or drink in order to facilitate the production or preparation of the same as an article of commerce in a state fit for carriage or consumption, and not fraudulently to increase the bulk, weight or measure of the article or to conceal the inferior quality thereof; or

1. (b) where any article of food or drink is unavoidably mixed with some extraneous matter in the process or collection or preparation.

1. (2) In any prosecution under this section it shall be no defence to allege that vendor, manufacturer or storey was ignorant of the nature, substance or quality of the article sold, exposed, hawked about for sale, or manufactured or stored for sale, by him, or that the purchaser having bought such article only for analysis was not prejudiced by the sale.