Amid an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the British government banned the sale of beef on the bone for human consumption.

The United Kingdom was afflicted with an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and its human equivalent variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), in the 1980s and 1990s. Over four million head of cattle were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak, and 178 people died after contracting vCJD through eating infected beef. A political and public health crisis resulted, and British beef was banned from export to numerous countries around the world, with some bans remaining in place until as late as 2019.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and always fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of the disease, the cow becomes unable to function normally. There is conflicting information about the time between infection and onset of symptoms. In 2002, the World Health Organization suggested it to be approximately four to five years. Time from onset of symptoms to death is generally weeks to months. Spread to humans is believed to result in variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). As of 2024, a total of 233 cases of vCJD had been reported globally.

The Beef Bones Regulations 1997 was a statutory instrument of the British government that limited the sale of beef on the bone. The regulations were implemented as a response to the United Kingdom BSE outbreak over fears that variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans might be caused by the consumption of dorsal root ganglia, which lie near the bone. As well as beef on the bone, all beef-bone derived products were prohibited from sale. This had the effect of outlawing T-bone steaks, prime ribs and oxtail as well as some soups and stocks. Other aspects of the regulations dealt with the deboning of beef and the keeping of records in the food production industry. The restrictions on sales were lifted in December 1999 and the regulations as a whole were revoked in April 2008.