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| FSIS History. The
timeline below takes you from FSIS' beginnings through the 1990s.
To learn about current initiatives, explore other sections of our
Web site. There's always something new! |
| 1862 to 1889 | 1890 to 1952 | 1953 to Present |
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The Formation of USDA
- In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln founded the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the time it did not have Cabinet status.
- President Lincoln appoints a chemist, Charles M. Wetherill, to lead the Bureau of Chemistry, the true predecessor of the Food and Drug Administration.
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The Growing Meat Packing Industry
- The expanding railroads provided transportation for livestock to markets where they were slaughtered.
- In the 1870s, refrigerator cars were introduced and later the development of electricity allowed meat processing to become a year-round business.
- The development of a large packing industry allowed for terminal markets and stockyards to thrive. Large quantities of livestock could be handled.
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Concern Over Animal Diseases
- In 1865, USDA Secretary Isaac Newton urged Congress to enact legislation providing for the quarantine of imported animals. The Act was passed, but jurisdiction was given to the Treasury Department. Little preventive action was taken, and imported animals continued to bring in disease.
- Individual states attempted to control or eradicate livestock diseases, but they were ineffective as the efforts were spasmodic. Also, states resented quarantines set by other states. Livestock owners and veterinarians were urging a national approach to meat processing.
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The Birth of FSIS
- On May 29, 1884, President Chester Arthur (R) signed the act establishing the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI),the true forerunner of FSIS.
- BAI's function within USDA was to focus on preventing diseased animals from being used as food.
- The Act that established the BAI included an appropriation of $150,000 and a limitation of 20 employees to tackle its many important programs.
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Protection Against Foreign Animal Diseases
- On August 25, 1884, quarantine stations of the Treasury Department were transferred to the BAI.
- The stations in Baltimore, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, along with the customs offices on the Canadian and Mexican borders served as guardians against foreign animal diseases.
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Facing Trade Challenges
- Exports of U.S. livestock, as well as animal products, fell under increasingly more stringent restrictions by foreign countries.
- U.S. producers and packers urged the government to implement an inspection program that would enable them to compete in foreign trade.
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Calls for Meat Inspection
- On August 30, 1890, the initial Meat Inspection Act was approved for salted pork and bacon that was intended for export.
- In 1891, the Act was amended to cover the inspection and certification of all live cattle for export, as well as live cattle that were to be slaughtered and the meat exported.
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Turning Point For Food Inspection
- In 1905, author Upton Sinclair published the novel titled "The Jungle," taking aim at the brutalization and exploitation of workers in a Chicago meatpacking house.
- It was the filthy conditions, described in nauseating detail--and the threat they posed to meat consumers--that caused a public furor.
- Sinclair urged President Theodore Roosevelt (R) to support the presence of federal inspectors in the meat-packing houses.
- Both the Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act were passed in 1906.
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BAI's Inspection Responsibilities
- USDA's Bureau of Chemistry was assigned with the task of enforcing the 1906 Food and Drug Act and the administration of the 1906 Meat Inspection Act was assigned to the Inspection Division of the BAI.
- BAI's meat inspection responsibilities grew tremendously. Many federal agencies requested BAI's inspection, including: Navy (1907), Bureau of Indian Affairs (1916), The Army (1917), The Marine Corps (1919), The Veterans Bureau (1927).
- Starting in 1912, BAI also inspected eggs for the Navy, long before USDA inspected them for the market and the public.
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How did FDA originate?
- In 1927, USDA's Bureau of Chemistry, which enforced the 1906 Food and Drug Act, was reorganized, and it became the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration.
- It was renamed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1931.
- In 1940, the FDA was transferred from USDA to the Federal Security Agency, which became in 1953, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare -- now the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Sweeping Changes in the Industry
- Following World War II, the processing industry changed significantly. The rapid growth of the federal highway system and the development of refrigerated trucks allowed packinghouses to move out of expensive urban areas.
- Competition in the meatpacking business led to the building of sophisticated, mechanized plants in less expensive rural areas.
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Government Responds to Changes
- The Eisenhower Administration inaugurated sweeping organizational changes at USDA in 1953. Scientific bureaus, including BAI and the Bureau of Dairy Industry, were abolished and their functions were transferred to the newly established Agriculture Research Service (ARS).
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Poultry Inspection
- Following World War II, there was explosive growth in the poultry industry.
- Congress passed the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) in 1957 in response to the rapidly expanding market for dressed, ready-to-cook poultry and processed poultry products.
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Industry Changes, New Concerns
- During the 1950s and 1960s, inspection increasingly focused on wholesomeness and visible contamination. The prevalence of animal disease as a food safety problem was decreasing.
- However, there was an increase in the kinds of products, the complexity of operations, and the volume of processed products produced, resulting in increased concerns about mislabeling and economic adulteration.
- In 1958, in response to the public's concern about invisible hazards from chemicals added directly or indirectly to foods, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1906 was amended with the 1958 Food Additive Amendment to deal with the safety of ingredients when used in processed foods, including animal drug residues in meat and poultry products.
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1960's - A Decade of Change
- The Federal Meat Inspection Act was amended as the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967. This amendment addressed the difficulties that had arisen from an inspection system that had become increasingly complicated as the marketing system changed.
- Under the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967, States were to conduct an adequate inspection of the nation's meat.
- The PPIA was amended to the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1968.
- At this point, the meat and poultry inspection programs, which had been separate, were merged into one program within the Consumer and Marketing Service of USDA's Agricultural Research Service.
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Meat & Poultry Inspection's Changing Home
- On October 26, 1971, the Animal and Plant Health Service was created to administer all regulatory functions of the Agricultural Research Service.
- Meat and poultry inspection work was transferred from the Consumer Marketing Service, and the agency's name was changed to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in 1972.
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Becoming FSIS
- On March 14, 1977 the Food Safety and Quality Service was established and was assigned the responsibility of meat and poultry products inspection from APHIS.
- On June 17, 1981, the Food Safety and Quality Service (FSQS) was redesignated as the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
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Historic Outbreak
- In 1993, an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 occurred in the Pacific Northwest, which caused 400 illnesses and four deaths.
- The public demanded change for safer ground beef products.
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A Science–Based Inspection System
- Both agency officials and constituents called for a more "science-based" inspection system as FSIS was still depending on organoleptic (sight, touch, and smell methods) inspection.
- FSIS stepped up its research studies to apply the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system to meat and poultry inspection, setting the stage for the most significant change in regulatory philosophy in the history of the inspection programs.
- On July 25, 1996, FSIS issued its landmark rule, Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems. The rule focuses on the prevention and reduction of microbial pathogens on raw products that can cause illness.
- HACCP clarifies the respective roles of government and industry. Industry is accountable for producing safe food.
- Government is responsible for setting appropriate food safety standards, maintaining vigorous inspection oversight to ensure those standards are met, and maintaining a strong enforcement program to deal with plants that do not meet regulatory standards. Implementation of HACCP began on January 27, 1997, and it was completed by January 25, 2000.
- The Pathogen Reduction/HACCP rule applied to approximately 6,500 federally-inspected and 2,550 state-inspected meat and poultry (slaughter and processing) plants in the United States.
- The CDC has attributed HACCP implementation as an important factor in the overall decline in bacterial food-borne illnesses from 1996 through 2001.
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Last Modified:
December 10, 2007 |
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