Guide Note

The inspection of meat was put into place to enforce health standards and detect meat that is not suitable to be consumed by humans.

Fast Facts

1. U.S. meat must follow the Meat Inspection Act of 1906
2. Current standards set after publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

The Meat Inspection Act was instituted in 1906 to keep unsanitary meat from reaching the public consumer. The law stated that labels on all food products had to have accurate ingredient labels posted on them. The laws were enacted in a reaction to the book The Jungle written by Upton Sinclair. The book documented the low standards of the Chicago meat packing industry.

• *Mandatory inspection of livestock before slaughter
• *Mandatory postmortem inspection of all carcasses
• *Sanitary environments for slaughterhouses and processing plants
• *Authorized U.S. Department of Agriculture ongoing monitoring and inspection of operations.