Social media users shared a sign online asking customers not to use gender language, indicating that this sign was posted by US supermarket chain Whole Foods Market. The sign, however, comes from Monash Wholefoods, which describes itself as a vegan and vegetarian cafe in Australia, and is not related to the American grocery chain.
Examples can be seen here and here. The description of one post reads: “Another reason not to buy at Whole Foods!”
The sign reads: “Wholefoods asks that you do not use gender language when talking to customers and servers. ‘Thank you brother’, ‘hello ladies’, ‘hello sir’ are examples of gender language and are harmful to trans and non-binary people. Rather use non-gender language. They / their people / people. ”
The sign was posted on the Facebook page of student cafe Monash Wholefoods on September 5, 2016. The cafe is located on the Monash University Campus in Clayton, Australia (here).
Whole Foods Market confirmed in an email to Reuters that the plate was not placed in any of its stores.
Fact controller Snopes deducted the claim in 2016 here.
VERDICT
Untrue. The plate was placed by a campus restaurant in Australia, not by the Whole Foods Market.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.