Meat Institute

The Meat Institute, formerly known as the North American Meat Institute and before that the American Meat Institute, is the oldest and largest trade association representing the meat and poultry packing and processing industry in the United States, founded in 1906 and headquartered in Washington. The organization represents companies that process beef, pork, lamb, veal, turkey, and chicken, including major packers like Tyson Foods, JBS USA, Cargill Meat Solutions, and Smithfield Foods, as well as hundreds of small and mid-sized independent processors across the country. Member companies collectively process over ninety-five percent of the red meat and poultry produced in the United States. The institute advocates on federal regulatory matters including food safety inspection protocols administered by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system requirements, meat labeling standards including country of origin labeling and nutrition facts panel formatting, worker safety regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and animal handling and welfare guidelines. The Meat Institute also manages the industry-wide Protein PACT initiative committed to accelerating progress on workforce, animal care, food safety, sustainability, and community engagement goals across the American meat and poultry sector.