President Roosevelt,
troubled with the fact that his country was eating tainted meat, took
responsibility for the well-being of the people and submitted the report to
Congress on June 4th, 1906. On June 30th of the same year, Congress passed both
the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act, written by Roosevelt and
Harvey Wiley, a chemist known best for warning people of the dangers of many
chemicals often used to preserve meats.
The legislation passed
quickly, as most individuals were supportive of it, even though the large
corporations breaking the rules were trying their hardest to keep it from
passing. Some companies, like Heinz, supported the legislation completely, as
they were very sanitary, and had nothing to lose except their competition. The
passed statutes allowed the federal government to inspect meat-packing
facilities, and prohibited many tactics previously used by meat-packing
companies, such as mislabeled meat, misleading names, titles, and descriptions,
adulterated meat, and inhumane slaughter of animals.
These requirements gave America cleaner meat. Meat-packing companies also had to keep their facilities clean, which meant more sanitary working conditions for packinghouse workers. Soon after the legislation passed, meat prices rose, and some believed it to be because of the new laws. However, the Secretary of Agriculture said “I don’t think there is anything in that. . . It costs more to raise cattle now. The price of farm labor has risen enormously.” |