Whole Foods pulls pre-peeled oranges after criticism

AUSTIN, Texas, March 4 (UPI) -- Supermarket chain Whole Foods received a surge of backlash on social media after offering packaged, pre-peeled oranges for sale in its stores.

Twitter user Nathalie Gordon shared a photo of the oranges as she speculated about the necessity of the products.

"If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them," she wrote, referring to the plastic container in which the oranges were individually sold.

Gordon's tweet quickly became viral, gaining more than 60,000 retweets, and elicited several passionate responses. While some shared in Gordon's disbelief at the perceived waste of plastic, others noted that people with certain physical limitations can struggle to peel oranges and other fruits.

The tweet eventually reached Whole Foods' official Twitter account, which sent a response promising the product would be removed from store shelves.

"Definitely our mistake. These have been pulled," they wrote. "We hear you, and we will leave them in their natural packaging: the peel."