The Kansas Meat and Poultry Inspection Program is a cooperative state-federal program. It is responsible for administering the Kansas Meat and Poultry Inspection Act that governs the wholesomeness, proper labeling and deceptive advertising of meat and poultry products. Our basic purpose is to provide for the inspection, labeling and disposition of animals, poultry, carcasses, and meat and poultry products that are to be offered for sale through commercial outlets for human consumption. The program inspects and registers commercial and custom slaughter facilities and meat and poultry processing facilities located in the state of Kansas. Federal law requires state inspection standards be “equal to” those of federally inspected operations and state inspected products cannot be sold outside of Kansas. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service periodically verifies that our program is "equal to" the federal meat and poultry inspection program.

Requirements differ depending on the type and extent of meat slaughtering/processing and sales of products involved. Different types of meat businesses include custom exempt, retail exempt, inspected slaughtering, inspected processing facilities, or combinations of these. Consumers utilizing a meat processing facility should be aware of the differences between the types of facilities in order to make an informed decision when butchering their home grown livestock.

The Kansas
Inspection Legend
Application of the inspection legend means the operation has complied with the program's regulatory requirements. Only healthy carcasses and associated meat products sold within the state may be branded with a Kansas Department of Agriculture inspection legend.