Foods and Their Adulteration / Origin, Manufacture, and Composition of Food Products; Description of Common Adulterations, Food Standards, and National Food Laws and Regulations

by Harvey Washington Wiley

PREPARATION OF MEATS AND MEAT FOOD PRODUCTS.

Regulation 40.

All processes used in curing, pickling, preparing, or canning meats and meat food products in establishments where inspection is maintained shall be supervised by Department employees, and no fixtures or appliances, such as tables, trucks, trays, vats, machines, implements, cans, or containers of any kind, shall be used unless they are clean and sanitary, and all steps in the process of manufacture shall be conducted carefully and with strict cleanliness.

(a) Cured Meats.—Only meats which bear the mark “U. S. Inspected and Passed,” or meats in containers which are so marked, and which upon reinspection are found to be sound, healthful, wholesome, and fit for human food, shall be taken into any meat-curing establishment where inspection is maintained. Any meats which upon reinspection are found to have undergone changes which render them unsound, unclean, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be condemned and be disposed of as provided in [Regulation 18].

No drug, chemical, or coloring matter shall be used in any process of curing any meats, except as provided in [Regulation 39]. All pickling fluids and other solutions or substances used in curing meats must be clean. At the time that cured meats are packed for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce they shall be inspected by a Department employee, and any pieces or portions of such meats which are found to have undergone changes which render them unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be condemned and disposed of as provided in [Regulation 18].

(b) Sausages and Chopped Meats.—All meat entering a sausage establishment where inspection is maintained shall be inspected by a Department employee when received. No meats which have not been inspected and passed under these regulations at the time of slaughter, or which, having been so inspected and passed, are found upon reinspection by a Department employee to have undergone changes which render them unsound, unclean, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be employed in the preparation of sausages, chopped meats, or similar meat food products. Meats or meat food products which are found to have undergone these changes shall be condemned and disposed of as provided in [Regulation 18]. All meat trimmings for sausage shall be carefully inspected and assorted under the supervision of employees of the Department. No drug, chemical, preservative, or coloring matter shall be placed in or upon sausages or chopped meats for interstate or foreign commerce, except as provided in [Regulation 39]. The curing of sausages or chopped meats or similar meat food products shall be carried out in the manner prescribed for other meats in section (a) of this regulation.

(c) Canned Products.—All meats or meat food products entering a canning establishment shall be inspected by a Department employee when received. No meat which has not been inspected and passed at the time of slaughter under these regulations, or which, having been inspected and passed, is reinspected by a Department employee and found to have undergone changes which render it unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be allowed to enter into the preparation of canned meats or canned meat food products. No drug, chemical, or coloring matter shall be used in canned meats or meat food products for interstate or foreign commerce, except as provided in [Regulation 39].

If at any time during the handling of any meat or meat food product, or at any time after the packing or canning of any such product, any portion or package shall be found to be unwholesome, unhealthful, or otherwise unfit for human food, such portions or packages shall be condemned and disposed of in the manner prescribed in [Regulation 18].

No meat food product which has passed through the various processes of canning shall be removed from the container and recooked, resterilized, or repacked, except under the supervision and with the approval of a Department employee.

Regulation 41.

Rendering of Lard and Tallow.—The rendering of all fats into lard, tallow, oils, and stearin at establishments where inspection is maintained shall be closely supervised by employees of the Department. All portions of carcasses rendered into lard and tallow must be clean and wholesome. Tanks and vats used for rendering condemned carcasses and refuse products must not be connected in any manner with tanks, vats, or other receptacles used for lard or other edible products. Unmelted fat which is not marked or stamped “U. S. Inspected and Passed” and which upon inspection is found to be sweet, clean, and of healthful appearance may be received, inspected, and rendered at a temperature not lower than 170° F. for one hour.