In June 1906 Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act in response to growing concern over the conditions under which meat was processed for sale. Earlier that year Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle had exposed unsanitary working conditions in the meatpacking industry. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt had ordered the secretary of agriculture to investigate the conditions. The secretary’s report confirmed Sinclair’s report of the unsanitary conditions. Senator Albert Beveridge then drafted legislation to regulate and enforce sanitary regulations. Beveridge argued that because most meatpacking companies sold their products across state lines, Congress could use its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce to enact regulations on meatpacking companies. Many progressives viewed the resulting federal meat inspection program as an important victory.
