Title 21 — Food and DrugsRelease 119-73
§603 Examination of animals prior to slaughter; use of humane methods
Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 12— - MEAT INSPECTION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS; ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING › § 603
Summary
Requires inspectors to check every animal before it goes into any slaughterhouse, packing, canning, rendering, or similar plant. Animals that show signs of disease must be kept apart and killed separately from other animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs (swine), goats, horses, mules, or other equines. After those animals are slaughtered, their carcasses must get a careful inspection under rules the Secretary sets. Also requires inspectors to watch how animals are handled and killed to make sure methods are humane. The Secretary can refuse or stop inspection at a plant if animals there are not slaughtered or handled in the humane way required by the Act of August 27, 1958 (72 Stat. 862; 7 U.S.C. 1901–1906) until the plant gives satisfactory assurances it will follow those methods.
Full Legal Text
Title 21, §603
Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)For the purpose of preventing the use in commerce of meat and meat food products which are adulterated, the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all amenable species before they shall be allowed to enter into any slaughtering, packing, meat-canning, rendering, or similar establishment, in which they are to be slaughtered and the meat and meat food products thereof are to be used in commerce; and all amenable species found on such inspection to show symptoms of disease shall be set apart and slaughtered separately from all other cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, and when so slaughtered the carcasses of said cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines shall be subject to a careful examination and inspection, all as provided by the rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary, as provided for in this subchapter.
(b)For the purpose of preventing the inhumane slaughtering of livestock, the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of the method by which amenable species are slaughtered and handled in connection with slaughter in the slaughtering establishments inspected under this chapter. The Secretary may refuse to provide inspection to a new slaughtering establishment or may cause inspection to be temporarily suspended at a slaughtering establishment if the Secretary finds that any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines have been slaughtered or handled in connection with slaughter at such establishment by any method not in accordance with the Act of August 27, 1958 (72 Stat. 862; 7 U.S.C. 1901–1906) until the establishment furnishes assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that all slaughtering and handling in connection with slaughter of livestock shall be in accordance with such a method.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Act of
August 27, 1958, referred to in subsec. (b), is Pub. L. 85–765, Aug. 27, 1958, 72 Stat. 862, which is classified generally to chapter 48 (§ 1901 et seq.) of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. section 1903 and 1905 of Title 7, included within reference to Act of
August 27, 1958, were repealed by Pub. L. 95–445, § 5(b), Oct. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 1069, effective as set forth in section 7 of Pub. L. 95–445, set out as an
Effective Date
of 1978 Amendment note below. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 71 of this title.
Amendments
2005—Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” wherever appearing. 1978—Pub. L. 95–445 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b). 1967—Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3, 12(a), (b), struck out “interstate or foreign” before “commerce” in two places, substituted “Secretary shall” for “Secretary, at his discretion, may”, and struck out “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines, and horses, mules, or other equines in the list of animals, and substituted “adulterated” for “unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food”, respectively.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2005 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 109–97 effective the day after 120 days after Nov. 10, 2005, see section 798(b) of Pub. L. 109–97, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1978 Amendment Pub. L. 95–445, § 7, Oct. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 1070, provided that: “The provisions of this Act [see
Short Title
of 1978 Amendment note set out under section 601 of this title] shall become effective one year after the date of enactment [Oct. 10, 1978]. However, such provisions shall not apply to a person, firm, or corporation for such additional period of time, not to exceed eighteen months, as may be determined by the Secretary, if the Secretary, upon application, finds that compliance with the provisions of this Act on its
Effective Date
would cause undue hardship on such person, firm, or corporation.”
Effective Date
of 1967 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 90–201 effective Dec. 15, 1967, except that with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof, amendment effective upon expiration of sixty days after Dec. 15, 1967, see section 20(b) of Pub. L. 90–201, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 601 of this title. Religious Freedom; Ritual Slaughter Pub. L. 95–445, § 6, Oct. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 1070, provided that: “Nothing in this Act [see
Short Title
of 1978 Amendment note set out under section 601 of this title] shall be construed to prohibit, abridge, or in any way hinder the religious freedom of any person or group. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, in order to protect freedom of religion, ritual slaughter and the handling or other preparation of livestock for ritual slaughter are exempted from the terms of this Act. For the purposes of this section the term ‘ritual slaughter’ means slaughter in accordance with section 2(b) of the Act of August 27, 1958 (72 Stat. 862; 7 U.S.C. 1902(b)).”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
21 U.S.C. § 603
Title 21 — Food and Drugs
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73