Campaigners have started a petition to urge the Bank of England to remove animal fat from the new £5 note.
There was anger among vegans and vegetarians after the bank confirmed the fivers contain tallow, a suet derivative.
Doug Maw, who started the petition, said he was "disgusted" and would not be using the notes.
"I understand old notes contain stuff as well - we can't do anything about what is in circulation - but the fact they are producing new ones is what really riles me," said Mr Maw.
"I don't think anything will happen about what has already been made, but I just hope they produce new ones without using animal fats."
Mr Maw is also trying to set up a petition on the Government site to try to force a debate on the issue in Parliament.
Some 9,000 people have signed the Change.org petition since Monday.
"Why would a piece of money ever need to contain something from an animal? ridiculous. surely theres substitutes and materials that can do the exact same thing," said one supporter, Martha McCoss.
Suzanne Bradshaw wrote: "The use of animal products is completely unnecessary.
"It's about time the bank dragged itself into the twenty first century and used a more environmentally friendly and ethical product to coat the notes."
The notes, which feature Winston Churchill and are designed to be more robust, began to enter circulation in September.
The first print run was set to produce 440 million notes, with polymer tenners coming next year and £20 notes by 2020.
A Bank of England spokeswoman confirmed animal fat is being used in the production process of the £5 note.
She said: "We can confirm that the polymer pellet from which the base substrate is made contains a trace of a substance known as tallow.
"Tallow is derived from animal fats (suet) and is a substance that is also widely used in the manufacture of candles and soap."
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