The Bank of England has admitted that its new five pound notes contain tallow, an animal fat, and that they have no idea whether it contains pork products.

So far more than 25,000 people have signed a petition demanding the Bank of England removes the tallow from the new plastic polymer five pound notes.

The petitioners further demanded that no animal products be used in currency as to do so is “unacceptable to millions of vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and others in the U.K.”

The use of tallow, an animal fat, in the manufacture of the new notes, the first of their kind in the UK, came to light in response to a question on Twitter.

The Bank was asked whether it was true that tallow was present in the notes, to which it replied that the substance is used “in the base substrate” of the notes.

@SteffiRox there is a trace of tallow in the polymer pellets used in the base substrate of the polymer £5 notes — Bank of England (@bankofengland) November 28, 2016

Vegans reacted with disgust, asking what consideration was given to their feelings and likening the use of the substance to “blood money” – defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “money obtained at the cost of another’s life.”

@bankofengland what consideration was given to #vegans & their human rights in the making of these? #fivepoundnote #fatfivers — Steffi Rox (@SteffiRox) November 29, 2016

@bankofengland @SteffiRox Gives a whole new meaning to the term “blood money” Horrified to discover this – absolutely appalling! — Atina (@AtinaTweets) November 28, 2016

As industrial tallow can contain rendered pork fat, the use of the substance may also make the notes ‘haram’, or off-limits to practicing Muslims.

The Bank of England told Breitbart London that they did not know whether the tallow was derived from pork fat, as they purchased the polymer from a supplier as a finished product and it was added in much earlier in the supply chain. The bank is investigating the matter.