Will next year’s new £10 note be vegan?
It came to light earlier this week that the new plastic fivers that entered circulation to much fanfare in September, are actually made using tallow, a substance produced from animal fat.
The news sparked an online petition calling for the production process behind the notes to be changed and so far it has attracted more than 116,000 signatures.
The Bank of England has also received angry calls from vegans and vegetarians to cease the use of these banknotes immediately and change the substance used in the production of currency that they have to use in everyday life.
The petition was started by Doug Maw who states that the animal fat contained in the £5 notes is unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and many others in the UK.
The new £5 notes were released into circulation in September and caused a collecting frenzy!
This news has also been taken extremely seriously by a Hindu temple in Leicester who have urged worshippers not to give new five pound notes in donations.
So how many cows will actually need to be sacrificed to make all these new fivers?
VICE have put together a ‘very precise calculation’ of how many animals will be slaughtered in order to make the 329 million banknotes likely to be in circulation by the time the paper banknotes have been phased out!
Any guesses?
The answer: Just over half of one cow.
So will next year’s new £10 note be vegan?
Most likely.
Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England has stated that they are treating concerns about traces of tallow in the new polymer banknote with the utmost seriousness but also that the bank did not know about the issue when the it signed the contract for the notes.
Innovia, the company who make the polymer are already working towards potential solutions for the tallow substance which is also used in household items such as candles and soap.
Can’t believe what all the fuss is about! People should have more serious things to worry about.
Any they don’t want just send them to me you just cannot please some people !
Maybe they will use pork in the tenners?
The vast majority of the population couldn’t give a toss . Why do we always pander to the minorities. Does it mean that notes handed over to butchers should be sent to the bank and burnt? That’s how rediculous this is .
I’m not vegan, but anyone who believes in this lifestyle should have a choice of the way they live, everyone has to use atm, you can’t choose which notes you receive, so BOE please try & please everyone, thanks
what’s up with people today your spending the money not flaming eating it.
Terry McElligott is right. People only have to hand them not eat them so it shouldn’t make a great deal of difference. And if you don’t want to handle them don’t except them in you change. Simples
If they’ve only used half a cow for the fivers, they might as well use the other half for the tenners or it’s just a waste.
for anyone out there upset by this I am more than willing to take these evil fivers off your hands.
I suggest that all the complainants should use hand protection in the future when handling nationally contaminated money. Just think of all the animal fats and bugs that exist on ALL OUR MONEY – residues from burgers, bacon rolls, kebabs. Hence the saying “filthy lucre”
come on do we not live in a ridiculous society, I bet if vegan and other cultures really looked at what they eat and use each day and what they ban they will find copious things that have contents that are not conducive to their lifestyle. We are talking of such a miniscule amount, its not as if its going to contaminate them or lead them to “Hell”.
1/2 a cow is used in all 529 million notes…. you probably wouldn’t even see it unless under a high powered microscope… and as they say it is used in soap and other household products. Lets get real people.
Do these people wear non leather footwear?
talk about pathetic the trace amounts must be virtually zero
talk about pathetic the trace amounts of this substance is virtually zero
What a lot of fuss about nothing. I am sure some people complain just for the sake of it. These are notes for payment, they don’t have to eat them ! Dear oh dear.
Dont you mean my oh my terry lol
What does it matter at the end of the day? money is one of the dirtiest things you will handle and even if it is tallow free there is no guarantee that the notes in your change haven’t been contaminated with similar animal products just through handling alone.