Creative Control International Inc.

Orange You Glad A Citizen’s Need to Know Leads Reporter to Story

Originally posted March 31, 2008

Sometimes the principles of investigative journalism are utilized by everyday, ordinary people going about their chores of daily living. Upon encountering a problem, they epitomize the best instincts of tracking down the facts to reveal the whole story.

In this article, in the March 28, 2008 London Free Press story, Woman tracks down the root of a bag of bad oranges by Ian Gillespie, London Free Press columnist, the consumer peels ahead of the reporter. Here’s the story…

Allison Gibson admits nobody died, nobody got sick and she got her money back. So why is the London woman so upset about a bag of bad oranges?

“You should get what you pay for,” she said. “And it should be good.”

I can’t argue with that. (And I’m not going to try with Gibson.)

Gibson’s saga started about one month ago, when she bought two three-pound bags of oranges at the Jerry’s No Frills store in London’s Argyle Mall.

The mesh bags, which were on sale for one dollar each, carried a label identifying them as Sunkist oranges. The oranges themselves, however, were labelled with a sticker that read “Moonlight.”

Later, when she sliced open the oranges, Gibson discovered they were blighted inside by a a black, fungus-like growth.

Gibson says she returned to the store — albeit without a receipt or the inedible fruit — to complain. She said a store manager gave her a free bag of oranges, but that didn’t satisfy her.

“They just tried to dismiss me,” insisted Gibson.

After spending a fair amount of time on the phone with her, I can attest that Gibson is not someone easily dismissed.

So Gibson went to work.

First, she tracked down the Moonlight Packing Corp. in Reedley, Calif. Gibson said a Moonlight spokesperson told her they don’t sell their oranges to Sunkist and had no idea how their oranges got into a Sunkist bag. (But they sent her a free bag of oranges.)

Then Gibson called Sunkist, in Van Nuys, Calif. I did, too, and they told me the same thing they told Gibson.

“Those were definitely not Sunkist oranges,” said Winnie Anthony, a Sunkist consumer response representative. “It could’ve happened anywhere along the chain. And we’re investigating it because we don’t want other people’s fruit in Sunkist bags.”

Gibson also sent Sunkist some digital photos of the oranges; they e-mailed back that they thought the problem was “alternaria,” otherwise known as “black rot,” which can afflict oranges that are too old or improperly stored.

Sunkist also said they’d send Gibson some gift certificates.

Then, Gibson went back to No Frills and snapped more pictures of the oranges, which she says didn’t go over too well with the staff. She said she met with a manager, who refunded her two dollars.

“But to me, it’s not about the two bucks,” she said. “They’re mislabelling a product. Not only that, they’re re-bagging something that should’ve been thrown away.”

Gibson then called the head office of Loblaws, which licences the No Frills stores, who told her they were looking into the problem.

She also posted pictures of the blackened oranges online, and said two people responded with similar tales.

Next, Gibson called the London office of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). I called them too, and inspection manager Jennifer Wieleba said they were investigating the matter and that mislabelling occurrences are uncommon.

An agency spokesperson in Ottawa said the penalty for mislabelling food items would depend on the severity of the incident.

“I don’t think this is a big health and safety concern, which is definitely our priority,” said CFIA spokesperson Marc Richard, adding somebody may have simply repackaged the oranges to recycle the bags. “There’s lots of motivations that could be happening here that have nothing to do with intent to defraud people.”

I reached a spokesperson for Loblaws, who confirmed Gibson’s tale and said an authorized local vendor (whom she declined to identify) had, unbeknownst to Loblaws, put non-Sunkist oranges into Sunkist bags and sold them to the grocery chain.

“The vendor is saying it was an employee bagging error,” said Elizabeth Margles, vice-president of public relations with Loblaws, Inc. “We’ve had a relationship with the vendor for 35 years and it’s never happened before so we give him the benefit of the doubt and just chalk it up as an error.”

Margles added the mislabelled oranges have now been removed from all No Frills stores.

The moral? Things aren’t always what they seem.

And if you find yourself up against Allison Gibson, be careful: You don’t know who you’re dealing with.

Here is my feedback to columnist Ian Gillespie:

Dear Ian Gillespie:

Well-done! I thoroughly enjoyed your story of the intrepid woman in your piece, the amazing Allison Gibson, whose talent for getting straight to the facts and her plucky persistence in rigorously pursuing the matter of ‘the falsely labeled oranges,’ I think demonstrates more investigative-reporter-like skill, gumption, and initiative, than one expects from even seasoned news gathering professionals.

Moreover, my advice: someone should quickly hire her to be the new Consumer Affairs Editor for your paper.

Clearly in discovering this important consumer interest story (false labeling, substandard fruit being deceptively, whether intentionally or not, being passed off as a superior quality name-brand fruit) I think she’s proven her uncanny ability to seeking and finding answers, and obviously she knows the value of asking questions in helping wend her way to the truth.

I might suggest giving her another ‘assignment’ of sorts and see that she reports back to you on any other topic or issue that similarly she might consider, that gives her pause or strikes her curiosity. I think she has exquisite instincts for news reporting.

By the way, your piece seems to have omitted mention of certain necessary facts such as:

What is her current and past profession/occupation/education?

What is her age and how many years has she lived in London?

Does she see her assertiveness in this incident as unusual or has she made it a point of always standing up for her consumer rights as such in the past?

Are there any comments from peers, employers, teachers or family members about her efforts, her inquisitive nature, motivation and her forthright style of doing things such as this?

It’s surprising that the London Free Press reporter, missed including much of what I consider to be essential elements. But now, there’s a better picture of the person, certainly making her efforts in this situation a more fascinating and satisfying read.

So here in her own words…Allison Gibson who was featured in the article above contacted me, and rounded out the piece with many wonderful details that make this a terrific story!

Here are her comments:

March 31, 2008 at 11:10 am Leave a comment