Title 21 — Food and DrugsRelease 119-73not60
§623 Exemptions From Inspection Requirements
Title 21 › Chapter 12— MEAT INSPECTION › Subchapter I— INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS; ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING › § 623
Summary
Lets some kinds of animal slaughter and meat prep skip federal inspection. If a person kills animals they raised and the meat is only for their own household, their unpaid guests, or employees, inspection is not required. The same goes when an owner brings animals to a custom slaughterer or preparer and the meat is only for that owner’s household. If these custom operations happen at a place that already has inspection, the Secretary can exempt those specific animals or meats only if the facility follows rules to keep custom meat separate from meat for sale, clearly label it as not for sale, keep it labeled until given to the owner, and keep the place clean. The Secretary can also exempt slaughter or prep in an unorganized U.S. Territory for use only inside that Territory when inspection cannot be provided with available funds and the exemption helps enforce the law. The Secretary may change or end any exemption. Pizzas with meat can be exempt if the meat parts were already inspected and cooked as ready-to-eat and the pizzas are served in public or nonprofit institutions. Rules against tainted or mislabeled food still apply to exempt products, except for the official inspection mark requirement.
Full Legal Text
Title 21, §623
Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The provisions of this subchapter requiring inspection of the slaughter of animals and the preparation of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at establishments conducting such operations for commerce shall not apply to the slaughtering by any person of animals of his own raising, and the preparation by him and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals exclusively for use by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees; nor to the custom slaughter by any person, firm, or corporation of cattle, sheep, swine or goats delivered by the owner thereof for such slaughter, and the preparation by such slaughterer and transportation in commerce of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products of such animals, exclusively for use, in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees; nor to the custom preparation by any person, firm, or corporation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products, derived from the slaughter by any person of cattle, sheep, swine, or goats of his own raising, or from game animals, delivered by the owner thereof for such custom preparation, and transportation in commerce of such custom prepared articles, exclusively for use in the household of such owner, by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees: Provided, That in cases where such person, firm, or corporation engages in such custom operations at an establishment at which inspection under this subchapter is maintained, the Secretary may exempt from such inspection at such establishment any animals slaughtered or any meat or meat food products otherwise prepared on such custom basis: Provided further, That custom operations at any establishment shall be exempt from inspection requirements as provided by this section only if the establishment complies with regulations which the Secretary is hereby authorized to promulgate to assure that any carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products wherever handled on a custom basis, or any containers or packages containing such articles, are separated at all times from carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products prepared for sale, and that all such articles prepared on a custom basis, or any containers or packages containing such articles, are plainly marked “Not for Sale” immediately after being prepared and kept so identified until delivered to the owner and that the establishment conducting the custom operation is maintained and operated in a sanitary manner.
(b)The Secretary may, under such sanitary conditions as he may by regulations prescribe, exempt from the inspection requirements of this subchapter the slaughter of animals, and the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products, by any person, firm, or corporation in any Territory not organized with a legislative body solely for distribution within such Territory when the Secretary determines that it is impracticable to provide such inspection within the limits of funds appropriated for administration of this chapter and that such exemption will otherwise facilitate enforcement of this chapter. The Secretary may refuse, withdraw, or modify any exemption under this subsection in his discretion whenever he determines such action is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.
(c)(1)Under such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall prescribe through rules and regulations issued under section 624 of this title that may be necessary to ensure food safety and protect public health such as special handling procedures, the Secretary shall exempt pizzas containing a meat food product from the inspection requirements of this chapter if—
(A)the meat food product components of the pizzas have been prepared, inspected, and passed in a cured or cooked form as ready-to-eat in compliance with the requirements of this chapter; and
(B)the pizzas are to be served in public or private nonprofit institutions.
(2)The Secretary may withdraw or modify any exemption under this subsection whenever the Secretary determines such action is necessary to ensure food safety and to protect public health. The Secretary may reinstate or further modify any exemption withdrawn or modified under this subsection.
(d)The adulteration and misbranding provisions of this subchapter, other than the requirement of the inspection legend, shall apply to articles which are exempted from inspection or not required to be inspected under this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section was formerly classified to section 91 and 92 of this title.
Amendments
1991—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 102–237 added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d). 1970—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–342 changed proviso so as to permit custom slaughterers to conduct a separate inspected meat business, continued the exemption for owners to slaughter and process their own animals for their own use, authorized the Secretary to exempt custom slaughtering and processing performed by an inspected establishment, and required that custom slaughtered articles be clearly marked “not for sale”. 1967—Pub. L. 90–201, § 11, substituted provisions for personal, custom, and territorial slaughtering exemptions and for application of adulteration and misbranding provisions to inspection-free articles for farmer definition and retail butcher and retail dealer exemption provisions. 1938—Act June 29, 1948, amended section generally.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1967 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 90–201 effective upon expiration of sixty days after Dec. 15, 1967, see section 20(c) of Pub. L. 90–201, set out as an
Effective Date
note under section 601 of this title.
Regulations
Secretary to issue final rules no later than Aug. 1, 1992, to implement exemption authorized by subsec. (c) of this section, see section 1016(c) of Pub. L. 102–237, set out as a note under section 464 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
21 U.S.C. § 623
Title 21 — Food and Drugs
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60