--- description: Whole Foods pulled the pre-peeled oranges after a tweet went viral and was written about in multiple publications. title: Whole Foods' Pre-Peeled Oranges Sparked a Fascinating Argument image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55de732b1e178623/698880513c1639826b45c4d1/gettyimages-73393175.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Whole Foods' Pre-Peeled Oranges Sparked a Fascinating Argument by [Michal Addady / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Michal Addady / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2016 8:03 PM CUT  The Whole Foods logo adorns a cardboard box at a Whole Foods Market February 22, 2007 in San Francisco, California. The Whole Foods logo adorns a cardboard box at a Whole Foods Market February 22, 2007 in San Francisco, California.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Michal Addady / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Michal Addady / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2016 8:03 PM CUT When Twitter gets mad, it’s hard to ignore. That’s why when users on the social media site became infuriated with Whole Foods for selling pre-peeled oranges packaged in plastic, it only took a few hours for the organic food market to pull the product from shelves. It began with a tweet by Nathalie Gordon showing a picture with a facetious comment about plastic waste. > [](https://twitter.com/awlilnatty/status/705375555030556672) The decision to package peeled oranges in plastic is particularly surprising coming from Whole Foods, which lists practicing and advancing environmental stewardship as one of its eight [core values](http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/core-values/we-practice-and-advance-environmental-stewardship "undefined"). That includes “[reducing waste](http://fortune.com/2015/10/01/ocean-plastic-pollution/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") and consumption of non-renewable resources,” including plastic. Gordon’s picture was favorited and retweeted over 60,000 times and written about in various online publications. While many people agreed with her that it was a complete and [unnecessary waste of plastic](http://fortune.com/2015/07/16/rotterdamn-plastic-roads/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), and therefore environmentally irresponsible, others did argue that the pre-peeled product is necessary for certain consumers, particularly the elderly and disabled. > [](https://twitter.com/WholeFoods/status/705418106915540992) [Whole Foods](http://fortune.com/2015/09/28/whole-foods-tectonic-shift/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") responded to Gordon in a tweet announcing that the product had been pulled. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/03/04/whole-foods-oranges/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://www.fortune.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4248282/whole-foods-oranges/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4248282/whole-foods-oranges/"},"headline":"Whole Foods' Pre-Peeled Oranges Sparked a Fascinating Argument","datePublished":"2016-03-04T20:03:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:38:35.004Z","description":"The oranges were in plastic containers","url":"https://time.com/4248282/whole-foods-oranges/","keywords":["Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55de732b1e178623/698880513c1639826b45c4d1/gettyimages-73393175.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michal Addady / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55de732b1e178623/698880513c1639826b45c4d1/gettyimages-73393175.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Whole Foods To Buy Wild Oats Markets For $565 Million","caption":"Whole Foods To Buy Wild Oats Markets For $565 Million","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4248282/whole-foods-oranges/","name":"Whole Foods' Pre-Peeled Oranges Sparked a Fascinating Argument"}}]}] ```