Food Safety and Inspection Service FSIS

Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel The Jungle exposed filthy conditions in Chicago meatpacking plants, and on June 30, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Federal Meat Inspection Act alongside the Pure Food and Drug Act. Poultry inspection followed in 1957 and egg products in 1970. The Food Safety and Inspection Service took its current form in 1981 and is overseen by the Under Secretary for Food Safety.

Federal law requires an inspector to be present whenever animals are slaughtered and to check processing plants every shift, so thousands of FSIS inspectors work inside plants across the country. Products that pass carry the USDA mark of inspection. The agency also tests for pathogens, issues recalls, and checks imported meat. Jurisdiction over food is split: FSIS covers meat, poultry, and egg products, while the Food and Drug Administration covers most other foods, a division critics have long called illogical, since a pepperoni pizza and a cheese pizza fall under different agencies.

After the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak killed four children, FSIS declared that strain an adulterant in ground beef and required plants to adopt hazard analysis systems. Salmonella in poultry remains a persistent challenge. A framework proposed in 2024 to treat certain Salmonella levels as adulteration was withdrawn in 2025, and the agency moved to allow faster line speeds in poultry and pork plants. Industry groups said the changes removed unworkable rules, while consumer and worker advocates said they would raise risks for the public and for plant workers.