Vegetarians and vegans are up in arms after the Bank of England confirmed that its new plastic £5 note contains traces of animal fat.
Replying to a question on Twitter, the Bank confirmed that the new note, which went into circulation in September, contains tallow, a rendered form of beef or mutton fat.
In response to the revelation, a
petition has been launched demanding the removal of tallow, claiming its use is "unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the UK". By Monday afternoon, around 15,000 people had backed the call.
Despite the petition and uproar on Twitter, the Bank has not provided any indication that it plans to remove the fat-tinged notes from its menu.