Abstract: In 1872,the British Parliament passed the Food,Drink and Drugs Amendment which is the first law in British history to regulate food and drugs together. A number of factors contributes to the passage of the Act of 1872 which inherits the principles of the Food and Drink Adulteration Prevention Act of 1860 and the Pharmacy Act of 1868. It had increased penalties for violations of the law,further clarified the responsibilities of enforcers and made the enforcement of the act mandatory. Although there are some defects in the Act of 1872,which leads to poor implementation effects,the judgement made by the Court of Queen's Bench based on the act gave it new meaning,that was to establish the principle of presumption of fault liability in the food field,and initially changed the concept of justice that had existed in Britain for hundreds of years.

Key words: the British Parliament, food and drugs adulteration, the Act of 1872, the principle of presumption of fault liability