The United States acknowledged early on that poorly managed livestock and their products could
pose a threat for human health.
In 1865, USDA Secretary Isaac Newton urged Congress to enact legislation providing for the
quarantine of imported animals. On May 29, 1884, President Chester Arthur signed the act
establishing the Bureau of Animal Industry, which was the forerunner of Food Safety and
Inspection Service. The Bureau of Animal Industry’s early function was to focus on preventing
diseased animals from being used as food.
In 1905, author Upton Sinclair published a novel titled The Jungle, which took aim at the
brutalization and exploitation of workers in a Chicago meatpacking house. This truly was the
turning point for food inspection. While Sinclair attempted to raise awareness of the working
conditions, he also raised public outrage with the unsanitary processing practices that he
graphically described in his book. As a result of the public outcry, the United States Government
enacted the Federal Meat Inspection Act in 1906. The Act placed federal inspectors within
slaughterhouses for the first time.
In the early 1900s, local butchers slaughtered and cut meat that consumers used locally.
Following World War II, the processing industry changed significantly. The rapid growth of the
interstate highway system and the development of refrigerated trucks allowed packing houses to
expand and become more mechanized. The poultry industry experienced explosive growth. The
Bureau of Animal Industry evolved into the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a public
health agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Today, this agency oversees the
processing, labeling, and packaging of commercial meat, poultry, and egg products.
Congress passed the Poultry Products Inspection Act in 1957 to keep pace with the rapidly
expanding market for dressed, ready-to-cook poultry and processed poultry products. The 1967
Wholesome Meat Act and the 1968 Wholesome Poultry Products Act clearly defined the
handling of meat products. They expanded the mandate of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and
the Poultry Products Inspection Act by requiring that state inspection programs be “at least equal
to” federal requirements.1
Initially, federal inspectors used sight, touch, and smell methods of inspection for meat products.
As technology advanced, inspectors adopted laboratory testing of meat and poultry products to
verify that an establishment’s controls or food safety procedures adequately address biological
and chemical hazards of concern.
Today, FSIS combines visual inspection of carcasses and periodic laboratory testing with an
aggressive preventative program referred to as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Point). Under HACCP, the plant operator must identify all critical points along the processing
and handling route where microbial and pathogenic problems could develop. The operator must
conduct hazard analyses and develop flow charts and standard operating procedures (SOPs, i.e.
verification procedures) for these areas of concern and for validating that no problems are
encountered. The written HACCP plans must be reassessed to ensure adequacy of the plan at
least annually and whenever any changes occur that could affect the hazard analyses or alter the
plan. The job of the inspector under HACCP today is not only to inspect animals and carcasses
but also to ensure the plant is following the HACCP plan written specifically for it. Inspectors
verify that a plant identifies potential hazards, completes testing, maintains records, and
undertakes corrective measures according to each plant’s own personalized plan.2
