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Following a Twitter admission by the Bank of England, nearly two dozen countries — including Canada — learned this week that their polymer banknotes contain trace amounts of animal by-products.

Specifically, the banknotes contain tiny quantities of tallow, a hard, fatty beef by-product typically used in the manufacture of soap, candles and industrial lubricants. Tallow can also be made from sheep.

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A Bank of Canada spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that all of Canada’s polymer bills contained “literally minute” amounts of tallow.

The ingredient first became publicized thanks to vegan activists in the United Kingdom, where polymer bills were first introduced in September.

In a Monday tweet to concerned British vegan Steffi Rox, the Bank of England confirmed “there is a trace of tallow in the polymer pellets used in the base substrate of the polymer £5 notes.” The term “substrate” refers to the base material of the bills onto which all other features are added.