What specific requirement did the 1906 Meat Inspection Act impose on meat processing?
It required federal inspection of livestock before slaughter and continuous inspection of meat products for interstate commerce
The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 established a fundamental precedent for government involvement by mandating federal oversight directly within processing facilities. Specifically, this legislation required that livestock be inspected by federal agents before slaughter took place. Furthermore, it instituted continuous inspection of the resulting meat products that were designated for interstate commerce. This established the precedent that government inspectors would be actively involved in the production process, representing a shift toward proactive, government-enforced monitoring rather than merely reacting with punishment after harm had already occurred.
