Purchasing Meats

To ensure that consumers are purchasing meat that is safe, federal laws require the inspection of animal carcasses. In addition to this mandatory inspection for safety, meat may also be assigned yield grades and the later quality grades to assist consumers in selection. Meat processors submit to the grading system voluntarily.

Inspection. The Federal Inspection Act of 1906 made inspection mandatory for all meat crossing state lines or entering the United States through foreign commerce. Inspections are the responsibility of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. This inspection is a guarantee of only wholesomeness and does not ensure the quality or tenderness of the meat itself. A meat inspection is conducted by licensed veterinians or by specially trained, supervised inspectors. They examine live animals prior to slaughte, as well as animal carcasses, observe the meat at various processing stages, monitor temperatures and additives, review packaging materials and labels, determine employee and facility hygiene, and check imported meat. Meat that passes this federal inspection is marked with an inspection stamp to distinguish it from meats that are diseased or slaughtered in unsanitary conditions. The exception is inspection for Trichinella spiralis, since visual inspection may miss the small parasite.

Other laws passed since 1906 further protect the meat supply. The USDA can oversee only those meats that are transported between states, so the Wholesale Meat Act of 1967 was passed to require that meat sold within the states meets requirements equal to the federal standards. Most recent was the implementation in 1997 of new USDA inspection regulations incorporating hazzard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) within meat and poultry slaughterhouses, along with mandatory testing for E.coli.