The Meat Inspection Act And The Pure Food Drug Act Of 1906

House of Representatives.” (History, Art and Archives) This federal law provided federal inspection of meat products and stopped the manufacture, sale, or transportation poisonous patent medicines. “Muckraking journalists had long reported on the appallingly unsanitary conditions of the country’s manufacturing plants, especially those in Chicago’s meat-packing industry.”( History, Art and Archives).

This endeavor lead to the creation of the FDA and also the requirement that companies list what is going in the food that they are purchasing. Document B states the ill conditions meat was placed in prior to the chopping of the meat: “Meat scraps were also found being shoveled into receptacles from dirty floors where they were left to lie until again shoveled into barrels or into machines for chopping. These floors, it must be noted, were in most cases damp and soggy, in dark ill-ventilated rooms…”(Neill-Reynolds Report,

It is hard to imagine that there was once a time when meat and meat-like products were butchered and processed in unsanitary conditions, but there was such a time and it was so bad that Congress had to pass the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 to stop these unsanitary conditions. In this paper I will argue why the passage of the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 was such a good idea.

Discoveries are everywhere in everyday life and they can impact the way we see the world, either positively or negatively. Because of this, it can be noted that “Not all discoveries are welcomed”. We can explore this philosophy through the examination of various techniques found within both Robert Gray’s ‘Journey, North Coast’ and ‘The Meatworks’, as well Leo Matsuda’s animated short film, ‘Inner workings’. These three texts, although all having visual processes of discovery, offer juxtaposing perspectives on the acceptance (or lack of) towards discoveries.

“The Jungle”portrays the harsh conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry in the early 1900’s. Jurgis Rudkus and Ona Lukoszaite recently emigrated from Lithuania to Chicago in search of a better life. The conditions were the cause of Jurgis’s injury to his ankle, which led to his frustrating unemployment. Jurgis and Ona, a couple who planned on getting married, struggled throughout their time Chicago due the treatment of immigrants. Jurgis always prevailed and assured his wife that things would soon be better as he had believed in the American dream.

In 1898, there were reports in which stated that Armour & Co. supplied rotten canned beef to the U.S. Army. This occurred during the Spanish American War. Many troops became ill as a result which meant that they were unable to fight. This devastating event captured the attention of the public and brought awareness to the issue of foods being processed in unsanitary conditions. As a result of this, the Senate formed the Pure-Food Investigating Committee in 1899. This committee held hearings in which it was discovered that the processed foods were adulterated and unsafe for consumers.

Sinclair spent time undercover studying the conditions of meat-packing companies. The novel revealed that these factories mistreated it’s employees and were even infested with rats. Sinclair wrote, “These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them, they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go into hoppers together.” This line explains how rats, poisoned bread, and the meat that people eat are all being cooked together. As the novel grew popular, people were appalled when they read about the conditions their food was being packed in. Because of this, the Meat Inspection Act, and the Pure Food and Drug Act were created to ensure consumers the products they receive are

It was too dark in these storage places to see well, but a man could run his hand over these piles of mean and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go in the hoppers together.”# There was nothing the packers would not do to make a profit, if meat went bad they would pickle it or make sausage out of it, “there was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausage; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white-it would be dosed with borax and glycerin, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption.”# The Packers took no responsibilities for the sickness that these meats caused. It was not uncommon for people to die from sickness they had gotten from eating bad meat, this is also an issue in “The Jungle” when a young family member suddenly dies one morning, “it was the smoked sausage he had eaten that morning-which may have been made out of some of the tubercular pork that was condemned unfit for export.”# Disease was also a factor for the workers, as quoted from the book “Meat and Men “Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle-rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world.”# It was also not uncommon for people to fall into the vats and become lard. “The public revolted at the

They used chemicals to alter the look of the meat. There were old sausages that were returned from Europe because they were “moldy and white” and then they were “doused with borax and glycerine, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over gain for home consumption” (143). The companies willingly put people at risk in order to earn extra money. Rats would climb on the food and workers would weep piles of rat dung off the meat. They would try to eliminate the rodents and placed poison bread, but then the dead rats, poisoned bread, and putrid meat would be mixed together in the hopper (143). The public would eat this food, unaware of what was really in

foodborne illness and large recalls of contaminated meat. For example in 2002, ConAgra was forced to recall 19 million pounds of beef that had been produced at its Colorado processing facility after their meat had become contaminated with E. coli. The result was “35 individuals were sickened and one individual died.” By the time the meat had been recalled about 80% of it had already been consumed.

But for those who don't know, corn doesn't come from a can, it comes from a field and months of hard work. You are wondering “how does the farmer harvest the corn?”

Millions of tons of fruit and vegetables rot in fields and orchards or are plowed over each year. Some of these edible crops are left behind because they are misshapen or discolored. Gleaning programs rescue only a small portion of the field waste. Contra Costa Food Bank is one of the rganizations that makes a collaborative earnest effort to dissimenate some of this not so aestheltically appealing produce.

The problems present in the meatpacking industry were the filthy conditions, and their quality control, as well as their health and safety regulations. The Meat Inspection Act corrects some of these issues by very thoroughly addressing the problem, and stating ways they -must- be fixed. For example:

Overall, the key to success to youth in the livestock industry relies on both education and interests. Once youth finds something that they enjoy, the benefits associated with their interests are limitless. Youth who involve themselves in agriculture and the livestock industry have the ability to set goals, dream big, and accomplish anything they set their minds too. Youth in the livestock industry have the ability to reach their highest potential because the industry has taught them how to succeed, and if they do fail, it has taught them how to get back up and try again. Through this industry, youth have learned how to create stronger bonds with their family and friends, respect people and their opinions, be responsible by caring for animals

Carne Technology was formed in 2004 the main function of this industry is to provide technical support to emerging meat industry technology. The word Carne is a derived from Latin word which means meat. Carne technologies initial focus was on the applying the technology on beef and lamb later the technology was applied to venison, pork, goat and poultry. It has expanded in the year 2006 by having research and development laboratories, due to its progress they have further expanded the business by having the workshops for the electronic facility and the small engineering where the quality and the tenderness of the meat is tested by using the new technology that in invented by the scientist of Carne Technologies. The primary focus of crane technology is on the development of carcass and meat processing technologies to improve the meat quality and the efficient processing. They are based in Cambridge NZ their clients are through Australasia, USA and UK there technologies widely used in NZ and now throughout the world. They use the electrical appliances in meat processing for the electrical stimulation of carcasses to enhance the tenderness, to reduce the blood splash, to ensure the operator safety and to reduce bleeding time.