Title 21, Food and DrugsRelease 119-102
§641 Prohibition of Subchapter I Inspection of Articles Not Intended for Use as Human Food; Denaturation or Other Identification Prior to Distribution in Commerce; Inedible Articles
Title 21 › CHAPTER 12 — MEAT INSPECTION › SUBCHAPTER II — MEAT PROCESSORS AND RELATED INDUSTRIES › § 641
Summary
Federal inspection does not apply at slaughterhouses or plants that kill or process cattle, sheep, swine (pigs), goats, horses, mules, or other equines when the animals or their meat are not meant for people to eat. Before being sold, shipped, received for shipment, or imported, those carcasses, parts, or meat products must be treated so people won’t eat them (denatured) or clearly marked as the Secretary’s rules require, unless they are naturally inedible.
Full Legal Text
Title 21, §641
Food and Drugs, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Inspection shall not be provided under subchapter I of this chapter at any establishment for the slaughter of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or the preparation of any carcasses or parts or products of such animals, which are not intended for use as human food, but such articles shall, prior to their offer for sale or transportation in commerce, unless naturally inedible by humans, be denatured or otherwise identified as prescribed by regulations of the Secretary to deter their use for human food. No person, firm, or corporation shall buy, sell, transport, or offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in commerce, or import, any carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products of any such animals, which are not intended for use as human food unless they are denatured or otherwise identified as required by the regulations of the Secretary or are naturally inedible by humans.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Subchapter effective Dec. 15, 1967, see section 20 of Pub. L. 90–201, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
21 U.S.C. § 641
Title 21, Food and Drugs
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102