T-bone steak - Definition

The T-bone is a cut of beef. Anatomically, it is a lumbar vertebra sawed in half through the vertebral column. The downward stroke on the 'T' is a transverse process of the vertebra, and the flesh surrounding it was the spinal muscles. The small semi-circle at the top of the 'T' is half the vertebral foramen.

Although the spinal cord is removed by packers during processing, there is still concern (in the European Union) that it could be a source of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This is because spinal tissue contains nerve cells, and these can experimentally transmit the prion that causes this disease.