§328-22  Duties of department.  The
department of health shall inquire carefully into the quality of any food,
drug, device, or cosmetic manufactured, sold, or kept or exhibited or offered
for 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 analysis
of all or any such food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics as are adulterated,
impure, or unwholesome, in contravention of the laws of the State, to the
director; and the director shall make complaint with the necessary evidence
through the proper authorities, against such person; provided that nothing in
this part shall require the department to report for the institution of
proceedings under this part, minor violations of this part, whenever it
believes that the public interest will be adequately served in the
circumstances by a suitable written notice or warning; provided further that
whenever the department believes that the public interest will be adequately
served by the issuance of a warning to the general public by virtue of the
degree of adulteration, impurity, or unwholesomeness in contravention of the
laws of the State present in any food, drugs, devices, or cosmetics which
constitute a hazardous condition, it shall issue a warning through all
available news media including television, radio, newspaper, and other
available methods of communication.  When the hazardous condition has been
corrected, the department shall issue a statement to be made through all available
news media that conditions as corrected have returned to a safe and normal
level.



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