UK Currency is Not Vegan

New £5 banknotes containing “tallow,” or rendered beef or mutton fat, entered into circulation in England this September. The notes are printed using plastic polymer pellets for the materials’ stain- and water-resistant qualities. The Bank of England confirmed via Twitter on Monday that tallow was present in the banknotes. Concerned citizen Doug Maw launched a petition—which currently has over 100,000 signatures—on Change.org to remove the animal product. “This is unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the UK,” the petition states. “We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use.” The petition will be delivered directly to the Bank of England urging them to remove tallow from the new banknotes.