Resources

The following suggestions are intended to help farmers move their animals in a low stress manner. Animals that are over stressed will tend to have more health problems, less desirable meat characteristics (including greater shrinkage), and are more dangerous when handled. Conditions for the handler and the animal are much better when using low stress…

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) is directly involved in many aspects of meat production in the state. Their Division of Animal Industry provides licenses for livestock dealers and domestic animal health permits for middlemen handling pass thru livestock. The veterinarians in this division monitor animal welfare and record keeping at…

There are a number of other agencies that are directly or indirectly tied to direct marketing of meat and poultry.60 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) licenses all pesticide products distributed in the United States and sets standards on the amount of pesticides that may remain on food. The 1996 Food Quality Protection Act requires the…

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled and packaged.59 The Department is also responsible for assuring that state meat and poultry inspection programs for commerce within that State are at least equal to Federal standards. In addition, products imported…

Under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, (FFDCA) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) protects consumers against impure, unsafe, and fraudulently labeled food. The FDA has inspection authority over any food in interstate commerce except for products regulated by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Products that are regulated by the USDA…

1. Talmadge-Aiken Meat Plants Talmadge-Aiken plants refer to those facilities that operate under the Talmadge-Aiken Act of 1962.52 These are federally inspected slaughterhouses where state employees following federal mandates do the inspections.53 These plants are also known as “[f]acilities operating under the Federal-State Cooperative Agreement Inspection Program (FSCIP)” or “cross-utilization facilities.”54 In 2018, there were…

Not all meat-processing facilities are the same. It is important to know the different types of slaughter and processing plants operating in the United States and more importantly for farmers, the markets they are allowed to process for. The following section describes these various facilities. Not all of these slaughtering and processing plants are available…

Some cultures have very strict meat handling requirements. 1. Halal Requirements Muslim consumers require their meats to be “halal” or “lawful” to their religious scriptures. For many Muslims, this means it should be slaughtered using “zabiha” methods. In general, meat is “haram,” or not allowed, unless it is proven that the meat satisfies halal requirements.29…

NOTE: For our purpose, import and export will be defined as a transaction between two countries (as opposed to two places). The destination of the end product may in some cases determine the inspections required. Import is the act of bringing into a country a commodity from another country or place for sale or exchange.…

NOTE: In this section and the one following on Imports and Exports, we address the movement of meat and meat products. Movement of live animals in interstate and international trade is beyond the scope of this project – as states and countries have very rigid and specific requirements for live animal movement. It is as…