The Meat Inspection Act of 1906
By: Jonathan Rodriguez
What was the problem back then?
Meat packing industries in the late 1800 were filth. No sanitary conditions could be found in any of the industries. These warehouse had no bathrooms. Workers would urinate on floor where the cattle was butchered. Since there were no bathrooms workers would never wash there hands even when they sneezed or coughed. All this filth attracted rats. This became a huge problem for the industries. Workers would set out poisonous bread to kill the rats. It was told that in store rooms where the meat was you could run your hand over the meat and your hand would pick up a layer of rat feces. There are accounts that many countries closed there borders to the united states. This was done because the united states would buy rotten meat and sick cattle from other countries. When the meat was being grounded everything would be tossed in there. The dead rats, poisonous bread, rotten meat, meat contaminated with urine, and chemicals that would hide all of these defects. Its was unbelievable that meat packing industries could do this.
What was the solution back then?
Upton Sinclair infiltrated the Meat packing industries as a worker. He experienced all the horror. These actions led Sinclair to publish the famous book called the Jungle. The public soon became aware of the famous book and were devastated about what they read. This led to public out roar calling on the government to end these unjust practices. When president Roosevelt read this book he put an immediate stop to it. The meat inspection act of 1906 was introduced. Officials would now inspect these shops showing up unannounced. This new act banned all unsanitary acts and introduced sanitary conditions to the work place making the world a better place.
The famous book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
A meat packing storage room
A Chicago meat processing facility
What is the problem now?
Problems now with meat processing facility's are steroids or ultra cations being done to the meat. There is also the danger of meat catching a dangerous bacteria and infecting the meat. This things could become a serious health hazards for humans if they are not careful.
What is the solution now?
The government is fixing these problems by passing laws that ban certain additives from being injected into the cow. Animals should also be raised proper so that they are health enough to eat. The government is also putting in plans to separate the meats form mixing so there is less risk of contamination.