The Federal Meat Inspection Act Of 1906

The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 came about largely due to the conditions in the meat packing industry that were detailed in great depth in Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel, "The Jungle." The novel was intended, by the author, to be a detailed account of the harsh working conditions surrounding manufacturing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The meat packing industry had become a sprawling economic business with the sharp increase in population in the United States. As such, the need for food; especially meat, became increasingly important. http://federal.laws.com/meat-inspection-act Amendments to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906
Since the creation of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the creation of the Food and Drug administration there have been many amendments made to correspond with improvements in the meat industry and the changing appetites of the American people.
As originally written, the Meat Inspection Act did not apply to poultry. In 1906, when the Act was passed there was not a heavy demand for poultry products in the United States. Thos who did eat poultry got their produce from local farms. As such, the Meat Inspection Act, as initially enacted applied only to cattle, sheep, goats, equines, and swine.
It was not until the 1920's when an outbreak of avian flu occurred in New York City that the federal government took a valid interest in the inspection of poultry in the United States. The influenza outbreak resulted in local inspection ordinances and when the United States entered World War II the military required that all poultry products used for military personnel conform to the military's sanitation standards. As a result the poultry industry altered its methods and in 1957 the Poultry Products Inspection Act was enacted to require any poultry products that moved in interstate commerce to be continuously inspected both prior to slaughter, after slaughter, before processing and at the point of entry into the United States; if it was