The Bank of England has rejected calls to end the use of animal fat in new £5 notes, as well as the forthcoming new £10 and £20 notes.

An online petition calling for the £5 notes to be removed from circulation branded the use of tallow in the money as "unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the UK".

The petition has reached more than 135,000 signatures, with some suggesting that palm oil or coconut oil could be used instead.

However, following a public consultation, the Bank of England said today (August 10) that it will continue to use tallow.


"The Bank has had to balance these responses against its other public duties and priorities as well as the other evidence gathered over the past months.

"The use of palm oil raises questions about environmental sustainability and the Bank's suppliers have been unable to commit to sourcing the highest level of sustainable palm oil at this time.

"Value for money was also a consideration in the Bank's decision."

Speaking to the News last year after it was revealed the notes contained tallow, Oscar of the Cambridge Vegan Fair said: "It does seem grim, backward, and entirely avoidable. Don't forget that it's going to cause problems for many Hindus, Sikhs and Jains as well as vegans and vegetarians.

"There just doesn't appear to be much thought that goes into the development of banknotes."

Oscar explained that vegans regularly struggle to avoiding using animal products in their everyday lives.

He added: "Some vegans will try to avoid using animal products altogether, and some will take a more flexible approach of using things like leather shoes until they're worn out or until they've found someone else who can use them.

"A key point involved in ve

ganism is reducing the demand in the market for animal products, so that less lives are lost to meet the demand.

"Having money in circulation which is non-vegan will force us to come up with new strategies, but I will probably ask for change to be given in pound coins instead of five pound notes.

"I would like them to phase the tainted five pound notes out of circulation, but what is really clear is that they need to rethink the technology by the time the twenty and ten pound notes are replaced.

"Given the advances in materials technology, the things we can manufacture now from scratch, it's astounding that someone thought this was a good idea."

In a 2016 statement The Cambridge University Vegan Society said it would support a petition calling for the note to be removed from circulation.

"The unnecessary use of tallow in banknotes is only the tip of the iceberg with regards to the overall unnecessary exploitation of animals for human use," the society said.

President Will Sorflaten added: "If people are concerned that there is animal fat in their banknotes, the Cambridge University Vegan Society would strongly recommend people to consider why there is more outrage in the trace use of an animal by-product in their money than in the animal products that they consume on a regular basis."

Mr Sorflaten added: "If you are concerned about the use of animal products in certain goods and objects, the Cambridge University Vegan Society would encourage you to learn more about the processes involved in obtaining the meat, fish, dairy, eggs, leather, and any other animal products that you may purchase on a daily basis."