Federal Meat Inspection Act facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Federal Meat Inspection Act

Long title	An Act Making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and seven.
Acronyms (colloquial)	FMIA
Nicknames	Agricultural Department Appropriations (1906)
Enacted by	the 59th United States Congress
Effective	June 30, 1906
Citations
Public law	Pub.L. 59-382
Statutes at Large	34 Stat. 669
Codification
Titles amended	21 U.S.C.: Food and Drugs
U.S.C. sections created	21 U.S.C. ch. 12 § 601 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 18537 Signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 30, 1906
Major amendments
Wholesome Meat Act of 1967

The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is an important American law. It makes sure that the meat and meat products we eat are safe and clean. This law stops companies from selling bad or wrongly labeled meat. It also makes sure that animals are killed and processed in very clean places.

These rules apply to all meat products sold in the U.S., even those from other countries. Imported meat must meet the same high standards. Later, the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 added rules for chicken and other poultry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also helps inspect other meats like venison (deer meat) and buffalo.

Why Was This Law Created?

The original 1906 law gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to check meat and stop the sale of any meat not safe to eat. Before this, some laws were made to help sell pork to other countries. But this new law was mainly about protecting Americans and their food.

All food labels had to be correct, even if they didn't list every ingredient. Harmful food was banned. This law came partly because of a famous book called The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. This book showed the terrible conditions in Chicago's meat factories. Sinclair wanted people to care about the workers, but many were more worried about the meat they were eating!

James Bronson Reynolds, 1907

The book's claims were checked by a report from Charles P. Neill and James Bronson Reynolds in 1906. President Theodore Roosevelt asked them to visit the meat factories in Chicago. He trusted them to be honest.

Even though the meat packers found out about the visit and tried to clean up, Neill and Reynolds were still shocked by what they saw. They reported back to President Roosevelt. After hearing their report, Roosevelt strongly supported new rules for the meat industry. On June 30, 1906, he signed the Meat Inspection Act into law.

What Did the Law Require?

The Federal Meat Inspection Act made the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) responsible for checking meat factories. These were factories that sent meat across state lines. Another law, the Pure Food and Drug Act, was passed on the same day. It also gave the government power over food that was sold between states.

The four main things the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 required were:

• All animals (like cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs) must be checked before they are killed.
• Every animal body must be checked after it is killed.
• Meat factories and places where meat is processed must follow strict cleanliness rules.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture must keep checking these factories all the time.

Since 1906, many other laws have been passed to make the meat industry even safer.

Images for kids

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  James Bronson Reynolds, 1907