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It is thought that people who contracted vCJD from eating meat may have done so because traces of spinal cord or other infected material from cows with BSE made their way into processed foods such as beefburgers.The main process through which this is thought to have occurred, the use of mechanically recovered meat, has since been outlawed.

Most experts agree that BSE was probably caused in cattle by their being fed with meat and bone meal (MBM).This mix, which includes parts of other animals, is an unnatural addition to the diet of cows, grazers who do not normally eat meat. Since the recognition of this probable link there have been several changes to the way in which beef cattle are reared. Cows are no longer fed MBM and brain and
spinal cord have been banned from the animal and human food supply since 1989, and other potentially infected organs since October 2000 (see later in this booklet, Can CJD be avoided, and is it catching? ).

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), while any risk of cattle to human contamination is now very low, "risk from BSE cannot be removed completely."

Concerns have also been expressed that scrapie, a BSE-like illness that affects sheep, could be passed on to humans. However, there is a large amount of evidence to show that scrapie is not transmissible to humans from sheep via diet.There remains, however, a theoretical risk that BSE may have entered the sheep flock, with symptoms indistinguishable from scrapie.The FSA is not, however, advising against the consumption of lamb.

Regulations applying to meat production differ between countries. In the EU, the testing of older cattle and controls on specified risk material have been introduced over recent years, offering increased protection to consumers.