California · Penal Code

PEN §382: Every person who adulterates or dilutes any article of food, drink, drug, medicine, spirituous or malt liquor, or wine, or any article useful in compounding them, with the fraudulent intent to offer t

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

A person commits a misdemeanor by adulterating food, drink, drugs, or medicine with fraudulent intent to sell it as pure, or by selling a different product without disclosing the difference to the buyer. Retail dealers have a defense if they obtain written guaranty of purity from their supplier.

Read the full statutory text

Every person who adulterates or dilutes any article of food, drink, drug, medicine, spirituous or malt liquor, or wine, or any article useful in compounding them, with the fraudulent intent to offer the same, or cause or permit it to be offered for sale as unadulterated or undiluted; and every person who fraudulently sells, or keeps or offers for sale the same, as unadulterated or undiluted, or who, in response to an inquiry for any article of food, drink, drug, medicine, spirituous or malt liquor, or wine, sells or offers for sale, a different article, or an article of a different character or manufacture, without first informing such purchaser of such difference, is guilty of a misdemeanor; provided , that no retail dealer shall be convicted under the provisions of this section if he shall prove a written guaranty of purity obtained from the person from whom he purchased such adulterated or diluted goods.

Verify at the official source: California legislative text

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This page is legal information, not legal advice. Code text is sourced from official publications and may lag amendments — always confirm at the official source linked above. Plain-English summaries and relationship data are AI-derived and reviewed on an ongoing basis; verify with a licensed attorney before acting.