Twitter fail: Whole Foods drops pre-peeled oranges after social media backlash

Supermarket chain Whole Foods has sparked a Twitter revolt by selling pre-peeled oranges in plastic containers.

A photo of the oranges in plastic containers tweeted by Nathalie Gordon has been shared and liked by more than 100,000 Twitter users and sparked an online debate.

Gordon joked about the amount of plastic packaging wasted on the oranges, with Whole Foods replying to her tweet to confirm they have now been pulled from the display.

They were being sold by American supermarket chain Whole Foods, who have several stores in London.

Some fellow tweeters were less than impressed:

Whole Foods responded to what became known as the #OrangeGate scandal by tweeting a joke.

Whole Foods did initially respond in an appropriate manner:

But then used this rather ill-judged joke:

However, not all observers we’re so quick to pour scorn over the pre-peeled oranges. Some said it’s no different from bagged salads, shelled seeds or baby carrots.

Kim Sauder, who is a Ph.D. candidate in disability studies, has limited hand dexterity. In her blog, she writes that “Preparing food with limited mobility is both hugely time consuming and potentially dangerous.”

Others on Twitter agreed, showing the issue was more than an environmental one: