§328-22  Duties of department.  Thedepartment of health shall inquire carefully into the quality of any food,drug, device, or cosmetic manufactured, sold, or kept or exhibited or offeredfor sale by any person; and it may in a lawful manner procure samples thereof,submit the same to careful examination and report the result of such analysisof all or any such food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics as are adulterated,impure, or unwholesome, in contravention of the laws of the State, to thedirector; and the director shall make complaint with the necessary evidencethrough the proper authorities, against such person; provided that nothing inthis part shall require the department to report for the institution ofproceedings under this part, minor violations of this part, whenever itbelieves that the public interest will be adequately served in thecircumstances by a suitable written notice or warning; provided further thatwhenever the department believes that the public interest will be adequatelyserved by the issuance of a warning to the general public by virtue of thedegree of adulteration, impurity, or unwholesomeness in contravention of thelaws of the State present in any food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics whichconstitute a hazardous condition, it shall issue a warning through allavailable news media including television, radio, newspaper, and otheravailable methods of communication.  When the hazardous condition has beencorrected, the department shall issue a statement to be made through all availablenews media that conditions as corrected have returned to a safe and normallevel.

The department shall investigate complaints onthe information of any person who lays before it satisfactory evidence of thesame. [L 1941, c 318, §18; RL 1945, §2222; RL 1955, §51-22; am L Sp 1959 2d, c1, §19; HRS §328-22; am L 1973, c 34, §1; gen ch 1985]