[Meat inspection in the second half of the 19th Century, sign of progress in applied sciences]

Meat inspection as applied science was born in the second half of the 19th Century due to research on intestinal parasites that can be carried over to man by pigs and bovine animals as well as to the study of tuberculosis. It was only during that period that meat inspection was taken over by the veterinarians from expert-butchers. During the industrialization and demographic increase in the urban areas bringing about a great need of meat, a group of professionals denied that meat coming from sick animals and especially from those infected by tuberculosis represents a danger to the population. Epidemiology and bacterial examination finally allowed to solve this problems as well as the development of modern chilling techniques assured a better conservation of the meat. At the end of the 19th Century an important legislation about meat inspection appeared throughout Europe.