out of a hundred does not trouble to
verify the weight, and unless he expressly asks for 2 lb. or some
specific weight of bread, it is very doubtful whether the seller, having
satisfied the letter of the law by placing the bread on the scales,
could be convicted of fraud. The provision as to selling by weight does
not apply to fancy bread and rolls. No exact definition of "fancy bread"
has ever been laid down, and it must be largely a question of fact in
each particular case. All bakers or sellers of bread must use
avoirdupois weight, and must provide, in a conspicuous place in the
shop, beams, scales and weights, in order that all bread there sold may
from time to time be weighed in the presence of the purchaser. The
penalty for using any other weight than avoirdupois is a sum not
exceeding L5 nor less than forty shillings, and for failing to provide
beams and scales a sum not exceeding L5. Also every baker and seller of
bread, delivering by cart or other conveyance, must be provided with
scales and weights for weighing bread; but since the Weights and
Measures Act 1889, no penalty is incurred by omission to weigh, unless
there has been a request on the part of the purchaser. The acts also
define precisely what ingredients may be employed in the manufacture of
bread, and impose a penalty not exceeding L10 nor less than L5 for the
adulteration of bread. (See further under ADULTERATION.)

Although the act of 1836 extends to the whole of the United Kingdom
(Ireland excepted) out of the city of London and beyond 10 m. of the
Royal Exchange, yet in many Scottish burghs this act is replaced by
local acts on the sale of bread. These are in all cases of a much more
stringent nature, requiring all batch or household bread to be stamped
with the reputed weight. Any deficiency within a certain time from the
withdrawal of the bread from the oven is an offence. The London County
Council desired to introduce a similar system into the area under their
jurisdiction, and promoted a bill to that effect in 1905, but it fell
through. The bill was opposed not only by the National Association of
Master Bakers, the London Master Bakers' Protection Society, and by the
West End metropolitan bakers in a body, but also by the Home Office,
which objected to what it termed exceptional legislation.

It may be noted that the acts of 1822 and 1836 define precisely what may
and may not be sold as bread. It is laid down in section 2 that "it
shall an