Working With Industry To Protect Our Food Supply. Who Is This USDA Hero?
I affectionately call him Buck Magnum. You may know him by some other name. Whatever his true identity, I would like to thank him for a job well-done.
Buck’s story begins over one hundred years ago. At the turn of the Century, we began shipping more and more food products between states. Due to the emergence of rapid transportation, improved preservation techniques and the ability of media to reach additional consumers, food became more plentiful, affordable and accessible. For the first time, food processors could viably ship perishable products anywhere in the nation.
While interstate shipments grew, however, food safety regulations became inadequate. Industrial advances quickly outpaced limited state and local regulations. In the meat industry, laws defining what constituted “adulteration” or “misbranding” were determined, if at all, by each individual state. Moreover, what was forbidden in one state was lawful in another. This hodgepodge of inconsistent laws soon made it apparent that, without a national approach to food safety, a single set of rules, and a single agency to enforce them (enter Buck Magnum), American citizens could have no confidence in the origins or safety of their food.
The federal approach to food safety was solidified in 1906, when Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act and the Pure Food and Drugs Act. These Acts (along with their successors) formed the framework for the national food safety policy that continues this day. The 1906 Wholesome Meat Act (now known as the Federal Meat Inspection Act, 21 U.S.C. § 601, et seq.) requires continuous federal inspection in meat packing plants, often times by multiple inspectors, to ensure that meat products are safe and wholesome, not adulterated and marked with the federal legend of inspection verifying the same.
Today, the federal statutory and regulatory scheme is enforced by the Food Safety Inspection Service (a sub-agency of the USDA), via inspectors such as Buck. In turn, I have watched quietly over the years as this picture has become, in some sense, legendary. I have seen the photograph countless times on the internet, and have referenced it in publications, speeches and Powerpoints. I even have a copy sitting next to the plant on my desk.
Thus, if you know the true identity of this food safety icon, and can privately express our thanks, we'd be grateful. Alternatively, if you could land me an autograph, you’d make my day.
