Whereas in the first seven decades of the 20th century consumers were interested in quantity and mainly the sensory aspects of meat quality, the focus of their interest was later shifted to a comprehensive view of quality and especially to safety. Safe food has to be nutritious, low in chemical contaminants and microbial counts. In order to enforce this with all the participants in the food chain, authenticity and tractability systems from farm to fork, including feed manufacturers, are required nowadays by directives and laws. Safe food has to be healthy in the sense of nutrition. Labeling system or even further advanced nutrition and health claims have been introduced or are discussed. Functional foods have been created. Where is the position of meat and meat products regarding the safety issue? Meat can satisfy the tractability requirements, it is low in contaminants and can be low in microbial counts. It is nutritious and best suited for labeling systems and further claims. Meat industry should take its chance. Safety aspects in a broad sense will be the topic of this paper.