SALE OF FRUIT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5093, 25 February 1927, Page 4

SALE OF FRUIT.

NEW REGULATIONS GAZETTED,

protection of the public

Who has not been induced to buy apples, bananas, or oranges by the lovely specimens that met the eye—those on the top of the case—only to find, when the tpp layer was removed, that the remainder of the fruit was most inferior. ? If the fear of the law is a satisfactory deterrent, this kind dlf thing will be done away .with in the future. New regulations have just been gazetted controlling the method of packing 'fruit, which is defined as “the unmanufactured edible produce of any orchard, or garden plant, and includes potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and all other vegetables.” The regulations provide that all Ifruit sold or exposed for sale, whether wholesale or retail, in a container shall be packed in such a manner that any 'fruit exposed to view, or that would be exposed to view if the container were opened in a normal manner, fairly represents in size, maturity, and condition the whole contents of the container. Again, it is stipulated that all strawberries, loganberries raspberries, or cherries exposed 'for sale in containers of a capacity not exceeding 13b net weight o'f the fruit contained .therein, shall be so packed that the container I s full of fruit. Nothing in the regulations shall be held to prohibit ‘’facing”—that is to say, the methodical arrangement of individual 'fruits that are exposed to view in a container —- provided that the requirements of the regulations are complied with. Breaches of these regulations will render offenders liable to a fine not exceeding £2o'. These regulations have evidently been framed with the object df defeating the tactics of those fruiterers who sell a very different article from those exposed to public view, These tactics are nothing more or less than dishonesty, and the. Government departmental officers are to be commended on their efforts to overcome this reprehensible habit and endeavour. to safeguard the public.