Talk:Federal Meat Inspection Act

Untitled
You attribute the passage of the Meat Inspection Act to the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Both these events occurred in 1906--doesn't that seem a little quick for a legislative response to a novel? And, also according to your site, there were several earlier Meat Inspection Acts. This "Upton Sinclair wrote the Jungle so they passed the Meat Inspection Act" statement is just the kind of unexamined thing that gets carried from one secondary source to another like a computer virus. Why don't you take another look at


 * I was told this by a university professor who had spent his entire career studying The Jungle and the Chicago meat packing industy, so I am willing to believe the connection is factual. - SimonP 16:06, Aug 4, 2003 (UTC)


 * Excuse me, but why don't you correct it? What is stopping you? Obviously you have already talked to an authority on the subject. I agree that something does not seem quite right here. --KF 16:22, 4 Aug 2003 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry, SimonP, my answer is to 128.59.85.75. As your text is not indented and the first one not signed, I thought you had written both of the above paragraphs. --KF 16:31, 4 Aug 2003 (UTC)


 * read the novel first, then you give your opinion. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Basically, Upton Sinclair (and I heard this from my AP US History teacher) worked in a meat processing facility before writing the Jungle. When he wrote the book, he wrote very vividly and descriptively about meat processing, using his past experiances when he worked with meat. He tried to convince people with his vivid writing, but, as he has been quoted to say "I aimed for their hearts, but shot too low and hit their stomachs." (or something along those lines) His writing sickened most people, as they had no idea what was actually being done to the meat they were eating until reading the Jungle. While the Meat Inspection Act did not come about wholly because of the Jungle, Upton Sinclair's book was a huge push for it to be passed. --70.113.79.34 19:53, 31 December 2006 (UTC).

Meat Inspection Act and Upton Sinclair
"Protecting America's Health: The FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation" by Philip J. Hilts generally supports the statements made in this articled about the Meat Inspection Act. apl1 23SEP2007

Meatwad at bottom.
I removed the word "Meatwad" from the bottom of the page. Haysead (talk) 14:48, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Split Article into Two
This article should be split into two articles: one focusing only on the FMIA (e.g. when / why it was passed etc);  and another article that focuses on meat inspection in the US. The latter includes info on:

(1) the fact that federal inspection is required only when meat crosses states' lines; (2) the fact that every US state has its own meat inspection regimen for in-state sales;  and (3) the fact that no inspection (fed or state) is required for meat that is not sold (e.g. custom exempt) Oconnell usa (talk) 18:05, 9 May 2012 (UTC)


 * To an extent, we already have this, with the "new" article you're proposing at Food_safety (which at least partially covers #1 and #2), while this article focuses on the FMIA. Some expansion would be great, and frankly the whole topic of food safety deserves more attention.  But I'm not sure that splitting this article, which is fairly well focused on the FMIA (not to mention fairly short) anyway, is the right way to go.  Rwessel (talk) 19:21, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Infobox information
Jphill19 added an infobox with details on the legislative history. Unfortunately this infobox contradicts the body of the article and published sources like the Atlantic, which says the meat inspection bill was signed into law in 1906, not in 1907 (which would agree with its title of "Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906"). I can't find the correct information on the 1906 act's history. Jphill19, can you comment on what happened here? Can you fix it, or should the infobox information simply removed? Huon (talk) 19:58, 21 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I have corrected the bill, and added a little on the infobox. I hope this can be taken care of properly. Pianostar9 (talk) 16:33, 30 September 2020 (UTC)