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"New Five Pound Note Not Suitable For Vegetarians"

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AlterEgo

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38144598

The UK's new fiver has won many fans since it was launched in September.

It's tough. It doesn't tear. You can spill beer on it, put it through the washing machine and it will survive to buy another round.

But one thing it turns out it's not, is fat-free.

Because it turns out the plastic polymer it's made from also contains small amounts of tallow, derived from animal waste products - and some vegetarians are not happy.

Familiar to previous generations as the base for every day staples such as soap and candles, tallow is traditionally derived from beef or mutton (but sometimes pork) at the slaughterhouse or later in the food production process.

'Essence of bacon'

Vegans and vegetarians faced with this revelation have taken to social media to voice their concern and over 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for the contents of the notes to be changed.

"We demand that you cease to use animal products in the production of currency that we have to use," the petition reads.
Second top comment reads:

16. Posted by boohoousa
on
2 hours ago
Politically, I am left leaning. But this is now getting out of hand. I'm not being far fetched, but this sort of nonsense is why Trump is in the Whitehouse. The rest of us are now sick of the few hyper sensitivity dictating to the rest.



Can't disagree with that.
 
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Yew

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I'm still unsure of the exact purpose it serves in the notes, though?
 

pdeaves

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Polymers are plastics. Plastics are made from oil. Oil is made from dead dinosaurs. The super-sensitive should avoid anything made from plastics (lots of clothes fall into that category) or fuelled by oil.

:D
 

bradford758

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All camera films contain a meat-derived product for them to work, a fact not widely known, but largely an irrelevance as digital technology has taken over.

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MidnightFlyer

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As a veggie myself thankfully I saw this before it was too late; I was going to eat a bowl of fivers for my tea tonight.

Seriously, there are more important things in life to be concerned about. Tallow as far as I know is used quite widely for an array of objects. Sometimes the vegetarian and vegan communities need reminding that, like every other group or collective, the world doesn't revolve around them.
 

Johnuk123

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Giving a veggie a new fiver will become a hate crime no doubt.
 

eastwestdivide

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What's the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
(no not a joke)
I thought vegetarians didn't eat animal products (but might drink milk/eat eggs), while vegans tried to avoid using animal products.
 

richw

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As a veggie myself thankfully I saw this before it was too late; I was going to eat a bowl of fivers for my tea tonight.

Seriously, there are more important things in life to be concerned about. Tallow as far as I know is used quite widely for an array of objects. Sometimes the vegetarian and vegan communities need reminding that, like every other group or collective, the world doesn't revolve around them.

Isnt it even in televisions? If so I assume vegans don't own TVs?
 

trainmania100

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I cant see why this is such a big problem. The amount of animal fat being used in the notes is so small, its not like your paying with bacon rashers. I assume animals aren't being killed for the notes, but the animal fat comes from waste from butchers?
At the end of the day, stopping the production of polymer fivers will not stop animal deaths - animals will die regardless of whether their fat is used in the bank notes or not - its the same old story. Stopping meat consumption wont save animals
 

theblackwatch

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As a veggie myself thankfully I saw this before it was too late; I was going to eat a bowl of fivers for my tea tonight.

Seriously, there are more important things in life to be concerned about. Tallow as far as I know is used quite widely for an array of objects. Sometimes the vegetarian and vegan communities need reminding that, like every other group or collective, the world doesn't revolve around them.

Unfortunately, 'news' like this does the veggie/vegan community no favours (as you clearly know from your post). If there are any veggies/vegans out there who are unwilling to use these £5 notes, feel free to send them my way instead! :lol:
 

Domh245

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What's the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
(no not a joke)
I thought vegetarians didn't eat animal products (but might drink milk/eat eggs), while vegans tried to avoid using animal products.

I saw someone explain it as: "Vegetarians don't support killing of animals, vegans don't support captivity of animals" Which makes sense, but the definitions of them both seem rather fluid.

I'm still unsure of the exact purpose it serves in the notes, though?

It is used as a trace additive when making the polyethylene as a lubricant and to neutralise residual catalysts from the polymerisation, so I've discovered
 

Starmill

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IMO not for anyone to judge how sensitive someone else is being. If what they're doing doesn't affect you, you accept the value of their opinions.

Unfortunately we have a lot of people who have opinions which do affect everyone else, such as "Black people are inferior" or "Britian must leave the EU", this is where the controversy comes in.

If someone doesn't like animal based polymers that's not controversial, and it doesn't have anything to do with Donald Trump.
 

Domh245

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The whole thing is just plain stupid. I have a lot of time for Vegetarians and Vegans but this is surely going too far.

It doesn't just affect Vegetarians and Vegans of course. I can't imagine a devout Hindu would be best pleased using money with trace amounts of dead cow in it, or similarly devout Jews and Muslims with trace amounts of pig. Obviously it's not in the same league as trace amounts of allergens, which could prove fatal to people, but if it can be avoided (eg a synthetic version instead of an 'organic' version) at minimal cost, then why not...
 

TheEdge

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As someone else has pointed out it's used in tiny amounts (0.1g per kg of polymer) and tallow/stearic acid is commonly used as a lubricant in injection moulding. So by the logic of the people complaining about the £5 note they need to be throwing out anything injection moulded.

Starmill said:
If someone doesn't like animal based polymers that's not controversial, and it doesn't have anything to do with Donald Trump.

Well yes and no. It doesn't directly but (talking from personal experience and opinion) all this hyper sensitive and SJW is really galling. I am white, male and straight, I don't identify as anything interesting, I'm however getting utterly bored of being told that just by being me I am the worse sort of person and should be ashamed for being alive.

And it is that sort of thing that is helping the growth of the far right again.
 

Nym

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Well yes and no. It doesn't directly but (talking from personal experience and opinion) all this hyper sensitive and SJW is really galling. I am white, male and straight, I don't identify as anything interesting, I'm however getting utterly bored of being told that just by being me I am the worse sort of person and should be ashamed for being alive.

And it is that sort of thing that is helping the growth of the far right again.

its the same even being gay and disabled. being a white male you're automatically evil in the eyes of extreme lefties (and I by no means sit on the far right).

However, the sort of people complaining about this seem to be the kind that are just seeking to be the victim in some capacity to try and make themselves feel special / needed / accepted / part of a group, take your pick
 

J-2739

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I learn new things every day on this website. May I ask if the herbivores of the dinosaur world produced more oil than those of the carnivorous types...:D

Probably, the carnivorous ones as they consumed animals which contains oils? :D

(don't forget the omnivorous ones too!)
 

Domh245

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I learn new things every day on this website. May I ask if the herbivores of the dinosaur world produced more oil than those of the carnivorous types...:D

The amount of oil produced by a dinosaur (and other prehistoric life forms for that matter) would be proportional to the mass of hydrocarbons in their body. A diplodocus would probably yield more oil than a T-Rex
 

D6975

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What's the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?
(no not a joke)
I thought vegetarians didn't eat animal products (but might drink milk/eat eggs), while vegans tried to avoid using animal products.

Almost - I have a few friends who are veggie/vegan.
They described a vegetarian as someone who doesn't eat animals and doesn't use products that involve killing animals.
Vegan is as vegetarian, but also avoids animal products that don't involve killing animals directly, like milk, cheese etc.
Milk indirectly involves killing animals - cows have to have calves to give milk - what happens to all the young male cows? Veal as a rule.
 

MidnightFlyer

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Who said that we think the world revolves around us?

(p.s. pescatarian speaking)

If that's a reference to what I said, I don't, it's just that the way some individuals or groups conduct themselves makes it appear as though they think that it does. Just because you are outraged or offended by something doesn't mean your opinion is gospel.
 

backontrack

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If that's a reference to what I said, I don't, it's just that the way some individuals or groups conduct themselves makes it appear as though they think that it does. Just because you are outraged or offended by something doesn't mean your opinion is gospel.

I think that there's a view that vegans and veggies are self-centred, and I think that those that are as people say give the rest of us a bad name.
 

Dennis

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As someone else has pointed out it's used in tiny amounts (0.1g per kg of polymer) and tallow/stearic acid is commonly used as a lubricant in injection moulding.

Not just injection moulded good, a lot of common rubber products, including tyres, contain stearic acid (0.5-1%). Up until the BSE 'crisis', this was derived from bovine products, not sure if it still is.
 

reb0118

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It doesn't just affect Vegetarians and Vegans of course. I can't imagine a devout Hindu would be best pleased using money with trace amounts of dead cow in it, or similarly devout Jews and Muslims with trace amounts of pig. Obviously it's not in the same league as trace amounts of allergens, which could prove fatal to people, but if it can be avoided (eg a synthetic version instead of an 'organic' version) at minimal cost, then why not...
I'm sure I got something similar to this during history. Something about grease on rifle cartridges almost bringing down the Empire.

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tellytype

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Oh dear. I'm going to have a bit of a Gordon Ramsey moment and say something along the lines of, I always knew veggies had a bit of a screw loose, but I didn't think they were dumb enough to try & eat a fiver!

Still, I suppose it's a more direct way of turning cash into fertiliser than using the cash to purchase food...

Each to their own & all that but really, has the world come to this? And are there not more important things to worry about?
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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I'm sure I got something similar to this during history. Something about grease on rifle cartridges almost bringing down the Empire.

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Was that not only in the continental area what was once solely described as India in the 19th century and not in all parts of the British Empire.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The whole thing is just plain stupid. I have a lot of time for Vegetarians and Vegans but this is surely going too far.

Why is it that everytime I see the word Vegans, I am immediately reminded of Klingons and Romulans (those who had the cloaking device)...:D
 

Bevan Price

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Almost - I have a few friends who are veggie/vegan.
They described a vegetarian as someone who doesn't eat animals and doesn't use products that involve killing animals.
Vegan is as vegetarian, but also avoids animal products that don't involve killing animals directly, like milk, cheese etc.
.

So - don't they ever get washed ? Most soaps contain stearates or other compounds derived from fats.
 

reb0118

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Was that not only in the continental area what was once solely described as India in the 19th century and not in all parts of the British Empire.

To be fair I was being deliberately vague.

That said without India did we really have an empire? The "Jewel in the Crown" and all that.



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