Shocked by the new £5 note containing animal fat? Here's what else you should avoid

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The news that the new £5 note is made using animal fat has outraged vegans, Hindus, Sikhs and others but the extent to which the boiled caracsses of animals are used in everyday products may come as even more of a shock.

The main components in rendered animal fats can be found in thousands of everyday products, and very few make that fact obvious.

Any product listing ingredients such as oleic, palmitic, stearic, palmitoleic, linoleic and myristic could be created using boiled animals' remains, unless it has a vegan symbol.

Anyone who truly wants to avoid animal fat should think twice before buying any of these:

Despite the fact that tallow is thought to cause eczema and blackheads, it is commonly found in cosmetics, including lipsticks, eye makeup, foundations, and shaving creams.

Another reason to buy a non-plastic bag for life - the ubiquitous carrier bag contains animal fat to stop the plastic sticking during manufacture, which is the same reason as the new £5 note.

Cycling to work may be a way to reduce your carbon footprint but the rubber in many bike tyres also contains stearic acid derived from animal fat.

Yes, even kids crayons can contain processed beef fat to create the texture. It is also what gives them the distinctive “crayony” smell.

Those who don’t like the idea of cleaning themselves with animal fat should be aware that it is a main ingredient of many bars of soap. Fabric softeners also commonly contain it, though there are lots of animal-free alternatives available.

While they don’t contain tallow, many latex products - including some condoms - contain glycerin, another substance derived from animal fat.

Glycerin is also a common ingredient in many toothpastes and, though it can be made from plants it is cheaper to derive from animals, so if you don’t like using bone marrow to clean your teeth,

For similar reasons to crayons, animal fat is also found in millions of candles.