The Bank of England has said it will not withdraw the new £5 note from circulation despite calls by vegans for it to be boycotted after it was found to contain traces of animal fat.
The Bank said it was “appropriate” to keep the bill considering its obligations to supply “high quality and secure banknotes.”
It also announced it would issue the new £10 polymer note, using the same material, as planned in September.
The decision will come as a blow to British vegans and vegetarians many of whom called for a boycott of the notes after it was revealed in November that they contain traces of tallow, a substance made from animal fat.
Within days of the announcement over 130,000 people signed a petition to get the Bank of England to remove tallow from the bank notes.
The Bank of England said in a statement that it did not originally know the notes contained tallow when the contract with its supplier for the £5 and £10 was signed.
It said: “When the Bank discovered the presence of these products, its first step was to alert the public and subsequently has been treating the concerns raised by members of the public with the utmost seriousness.”
The Bank said it had instructed its polymer suppliers to research alternative ingredients other than animal-fats in the manufacturing of the new £20 notes which will enter circulation in 2020.
It said: "Those alternatives could for example include the use of palm oil or coconut oil as a substitute.”
But it added: “Weighing the considerations, the Bank has now concluded that it would be appropriate to keep the £5 polymer note in circulation and to issue the £10 polymer note as planned, in September.”
Speaking when the notes were first introduced, Steffi Rox, 33, a vegan businesswoman, told the Standard: “It’s really disappointing. It’s not a nice thought that there is an animal product in my pocket it grosses me out.
“It seems that Vegans were just not considered which is pretty offensive considering it’s a huge growing community.”
Ms Rox said she would be boycotting the £5 note saying she refuses to accept that having animal fat in money is okay.
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Dan Hanks, a vegan freelance writer, said he was also considering boycotting the note for “the same reason I don’t wear leather – it would make me uncomfortable using something that has (at least partly) come from animal suffering.”
