Whole Foods got a lot of criticism for selling ready-peeled oranges packaged in plastic containers. While this alleviates the tedious task of digging through the fruit's outer layer to reach its juicy goodness, consumers are outraged by the market's utter misuse of packaging.
A photo of the peeled oranges sitting in plastic containers at a Whole Foods location in California sent the Internet abuzz when it was posted to Reddit with the caption, "Are people really that lazy nowadays?"
Another message read: "If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them."
In attempt to appease angry social media users, Whole Foods responded to the tweet, apologizing for the packaging flub and immediately pulling the oranges from store shelves. The market agreed that from now on, they would "leave them in their natural packaging: the peel."
Under its "Green Mission," Whole Foods made a policy of dialing down waste, including banning plastic bags and encouraging customers to bring their own reusable shopping bags instead. Therefore, selling pre-peeled oranges in unnecessary plastic packing does seem to stray from their conservation goals.
"A lot of our customers love the convenience of our cut produce offerings, but this was a simple case where a handful of stores experimented with a seasonal product spotlight that wasn't fully thought through," a spokeswoman from Whole Foods explained in a statement. "We're glad some customers pointed it out so we could take a closer look."
A study released in 2015 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, revealed that more than 4.8 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the world's oceans each year. This pollution goes on to choke, entangle or wind up in the stomach of various marine animals, including sea turtles, whales and seabirds.
Despite the potential environmental effects, this is not the first time Whole Foods has been criticized for its wrongful plastic packaging. Last year, the store tried to sell stalks of asparagus in water for $5.99. However, the supermarket chain quickly pulled this absurd product from shelves too when photos went viral, and admitted packaging only a couple spears of asparagus in bottled water was a mistake.