You probably wouldn’t suspect something as simple as a note to contain anything from animals, would you? Well, turns out that the new £5 notes contain animal fat, something that vegans and vegetarians are having a hard time accepting.
Recently, the Bank of England revealed that the new polymer notes contain tallow – a type of animal fat usually found in candles and soap. This has caused a fuss between vegans and vegetarians.
A petition was created at Change.org, urging the Bank of England to put an end to the use of tallow in the production of the bank’s notes. It has gained over 70,000 signatures and will be sent to the Bank of England. It says:
The new £5 notes contain animal fat in the form of tallow. This is unacceptable to millions of vegans and vegetarians in the UK. We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use.
Despite the fact that animal products are not needed to make bank notes, the Bank of England still declined this comment. In fact, according to a Tweet from the Bank of England, there is a trace of tallow in the pellets used in the base substrate of these notes.
However, things were taken even further, as this Tweet resulted in a rage on Twitter, where many social media users expressed their mixed opinions about the new notes.
You can join the conversation on Twitter or sign the petition yourself. It has generated close to 80,000 supporters and needs another 70,000 to reach their goal of 150,000 signatures. But for now, it looks like Brits will be carrying a “fat” wallet around town.
#bankofengland
