England Considers Making Its Cash Vegan

The Bank of England is looking to remove animal products from its new £5 banknote. The note went into circulation in September and uses a plastic polymer that contains tallow—or rendered beef or mutton fat. The bank confirmed on Twitter on Monday that the notes contained tallow, which sparked a social media outrage resulting in more than 100,000 signatures on a Change.org petition asking the bank to reformulate the banknote sans animal products. In a statement to British media outlet BBC, the bank revealed it was not aware of the presence of tallow in the banknote when it contracted material supplier Innovia Security to create the currency. “We are aware of some people’s concerns about traces of tallow in our new £5 note,” the bank said in the statement. “We respect those concerns and are treating them with the utmost seriousness.” According to the Bank of England, Innovia Security is “now working intensively with its supply chain and will keep the Bank informed on progress towards potential solutions.”