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Title 21 — Food and Drugs

Chapter 12 — Meat Inspection

§ 608. Sanitary inspection and regulation of slaughtering and packing establishments; rejection of adulterated meat or meat food products

Statutory text

The Secretary shall cause to be made, by experts in sanitation or by other competent inspectors, such inspection of all slaughtering, meat canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishments in which amenable species are slaughtered and the meat and meat food products thereof are prepared for commerce as may be necessary to inform himself concerning the sanitary conditions of the same, and to prescribe the rules and regulations of sanitation under which such establishments shall be maintained; and where the sanitary conditions of any such establishment are such that the meat or meat food products are rendered adulterated, he shall refuse to allow said meat or meat food products to be labeled, marked, stamped or tagged as “inspected and passed.”

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 59–2907 · 34 Stat. 1256

    Enacted · 21 U.S.C. § 608

    Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 8, formerly 6th par., 34 Stat. 1262

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 8, formerly 6th par., 34 Stat. 1262

  2. Pub. L. 90–201 · 81 Stat. 584

    1. Struck · 21 U.S.C. § 608

      Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3, 12(a), (f), struck out “interstate or foreign” before “commerce” and “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals

    2. Substituted · 21 U.S.C. § 608

      Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3, 12(a), (f), substituted “adulterated” for “unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food”, respectively

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3, 12(a), (f), struck out “interstate or foreign” before “commerce” and “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals, and substituted “adulterated” for “unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food”, respectively.

  3. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

    Pub. L. 109–97 title VII § 798 · 119 Stat. 2120

    Substituted · 21 U.S.C. § 608

    Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    Sec. 798. Amenable Species.— The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended— (1) 21 USC 603–605, 608, 609, 615, 617, 618, 620, 621. 21 USC 601. by striking “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” each place it appears and inserting “amenable species”; (2) in section 1, by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(w) The term ‘amenable species’ means— “(1) those species subject to the provisions of this Act on the day before the date of the enactment of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006; and “(2) any additional species of livestock that the Secretary considers appropriate.” ; and (3) in section 21 USC 619. 19— (A) by striking “horses, mules, or other equines” and inserting “species designated by regulations in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006”; and (B) by striking “cattle, sheep, swine, or goats” and inserting “other amenable species”. (b) Effective Date.— The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the day after the effective date of section 794 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006.

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 109–97 effective the day after 120 days after Nov. 10, 2005, see section 798(b) of Pub. L. 109–97, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.

1 of 4 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 3 partial

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 76 of this title.

Amendments1967–2005 · 2 rounds

2005

Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines”.

1967

Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3, 12(a), (f), struck out “interstate or foreign” before “commerce” and “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals, and substituted “adulterated” for “unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food”, respectively.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2005 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 109–97 effective the day after 120 days after , see section 798(b) of Pub. L. 109–97, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.

Effective Date of 1967 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 90–201 effective , except that with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof, amendment effective upon expiration of sixty days after , see section 20(b) of Pub. L. 90–201, set out as an Effective Date note under section 601 of this title.

Credits

1907–2005 · 3 acts
  1. 1907Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 8, formerly 6th par., 34 Stat. 1262
  2. 1967renumbered § 8 and amended Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 1, 3, 12(a), (f), , 81 Stat. 584, 588, 592
  3. 2005Pub. L. 109–97, title VII, § 798[(a)](1), , 119 Stat. 2166.
Show as published

(Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 8, formerly 6th par., 34 Stat. 1262; renumbered § 8 and amended Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 1, 3, 12(a), (f), , 81 Stat. 584, 588, 592; Pub. L. 109–97, title VII, § 798[(a)](1), , 119 Stat. 2166.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc21.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t21/s608