The recent discovery that Britain’s £5 note contains traces of animal fat agitated a few non-meat eating groups and some restaurants are now refusing to take them. Vegetarian restaurant Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge announced it would not accept the form of currency.
In the wake of Brexit, the Bank of England wanted to fortify their currency. The Bank introduced a new £5 note that would be tougher for counterfeiters to copy, but their actions faced some unintended consequences.
The £5 notes contained animal by-products and now some restaurants are refusing to accept them following some outrage from those in the vegetarian community. Rainbow Cafe owner Sharon Meijland had put up signs in the restaurant informing customers they would not be accepting the note on the grounds the cafe was an “ethical establishment:”
“Our whole business is based around not having anything like that on the premises. Although the same person doesn’t handle the money that handles the food, that’s not really the point…This is so repulsive… we are actually going to have to say that we can’t take the notes in our restaurant.”
Meijland told BBC News no one has complained about the new restaurant rules. Since the notes were introduced in September, a petition calling for its removal has collected more than 120,000 signatures. The Bank of England has yet to announced if restaurants had a legal obligation to accept the currency, but it did say it is looking for solutions to solve the issue.
(Via BBC News)