21 U.S.C. § 606 — Inspection and labeling of meat food products

submitted 119 years ago by Pub. L. 110-234 to r/title-21-FOOD-AND-DRUGS · 319 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

The Secretary must inspect meat food products at slaughtering and packing plants. Inspectors label safe products "Inspected and passed" and destroy adulterated ones marked "Inspected and condemned." Export products can skip preservative rules unless they are sold in the United States.

(a) The Secretary must have inspectors examine and inspect all meat food products made for sale. This applies to products made at slaughtering, canning, salting, packing, rendering, and similar plants. Inspectors can enter every part of these plants at any time, day or night. This is true whether the plant is running or not. Inspectors must mark, stamp, tag, or label products as "Inspected and passed" if they are not "adulterated." This section does not further define that term here. Inspectors must mark products as "Inspected and condemned" if they are adulterated. Condemned products must then be destroyed. The Secretary may pull inspectors out of a plant that will not destroy condemned products. There is one exception to the preservative rules in this section. These rules do not apply to meat food products made for export to a foreign country. This exception applies if the products are made to that country's specifications. It also applies only if the products do not break that country's laws. But if such a product is actually sold or offered for sale inside the United States, this exception no longer applies. In that case, all the other rules of this chapter apply to it. (b) Inspectors sometimes examine a meat food product made from certain fish described elsewhere in this title. When they do, the Secretary must consider the conditions under which the fish were raised. The Secretary must also consider how the fish were carried to the processing plant.

facts

- Codified at 21 U.S.C. § 606, titled "Inspection and labeling of meat food products," part of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 6). - The provision spans 319 words and contains two subsections: (a) general inspection/labeling requirements and (b) special consideration for certain fish. - Originally enacted in 1907, but this section was added by Pub. L. 110–234, title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), and mirrored by Pub. L. 110–246, both dated in 2008. - The source credit reflects three amendments, including a further amendment by Pub. L. 113–79, title XII, § 12106(a)(2), enacted Feb. 7, 2014. - The section's enacting public law is identified as Pub. L. 110-234, with 122 Stat. 1369 as the relevant statutory citation.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) In general

For the purposes hereinbefore set forth the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all meat food products prepared for commerce in any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishment, and for the purposes of any examination and inspection and inspectors shall have access at all times, by day or night, whether the establishment be operated or not, to every part of said establishment; and said inspectors shall mark, stamp, tag, or label as “Inspected and passed” all such products found to be not adulterated; and said inspectors shall label, mark, stamp, or tag as “Inspected and condemned” all such products found adulterated, and all such condemned meat food products shall be destroyed for food purposes, as hereinbefore provided, and the Secretary may remove inspectors from any establishment which fails to so destroy such condemned meat food products: Provided, That subject to the rules and regulations of the Secretary the provisions of this section in regard to preservatives shall not apply to meat food products for export to any foreign country and which are prepared or packed according to the specifications or directions of the foreign purchaser, when no substance is used in the preparation or packing thereof in conflict with the laws of the foreign country to which said article is to be exported; but if said article shall be in fact sold or offered for sale for domestic use or consumption then this proviso shall not exempt said article from the operation of all the other provisions of this chapter.1

(b) Certain fish

In the case of an examination and inspection under subsection (a) of a meat food product derived from any fish described in section 601(w)(2) of this title, the Secretary shall take into account the conditions under which the fish is raised and transported to a processing establishment.

Source credit: (Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 6, as added Pub. L. 110–234, title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1369, and Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2131; amended Pub. L. 113–79, title XII, § 12106(a)(2), Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 981.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1907Enacted · Pub. L. 110-234 · 122 Stat. 1369
2014Amended · Pub. L. 113-79 · 128 Stat. 981

The record. The source credit traces this section to the Act of March 4, 1907, chapter 2907, title I, § 6, part of the original meat inspection framework enacted that year. The current text of § 606, however, was substituted in its present form by Public Law 110-234, title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B) (May 22, 2008), and by parallel language in Public Law 110-246, § 4(a), title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B) (June 18, 2008), enacting the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The section was subsequently amended once more by Public Law 113-79, title XII, § 12106(a)(2) (Feb. 7, 2014). The credit thus documents an original 1907 enactment, a substantial 2008 revision (enacted twice, in companion bills), and a further 2014 amendment. Historical context. The 1907 Act is generally understood as part of the federal response to public concern over unsanitary conditions in meatpacking, commonly associated with public exposés of the era, and it established federal inspection of meat intended for interstate and foreign commerce. The 2008 amendments coincide with a broader farm bill, commonly known as the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, which addressed agricultural policy generally; the record here does not establish the specific reasons Congress chose to revise this particular inspection provision, including the subsection addressing certain fish products, or the purpose behind the 2014 amendment. Readers should not infer legislative intent beyond what the statutory text itself states.

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