Avoid processed foods: A Mediterranean diet comprises whole foods. It doesn’t involve many packaged or processed foods (think a long, lazy lunch versus a grab-and-go meal). Try to avoid highly processed foods, which often contain added sugars, refined grains, trans fats, and refined vegetable oils (soybean oil, corn oil, etc.)

An Amazon grocery executive says the company’s internal bureaucracy is “ridiculous” and that the retail giant is working to reduce it.

At an internal meeting last week for Amazon’s grocery team, an employee asked how the company planned to speed up decision-making due to the “multiple levels” needed for approval. The meeting leaked on Wednesday when Business Insider obtained a recording of it.

Amazon’s Vice President of Worldwide Grocery and Whole Foods CEO, Jason Buechel, responded to the employee’s concern by characterizing internal bureaucracy as “ridiculous” and saying that Amazon is trying to speed up processes in several areas, like spending approvals. According to Buechel, bureaucracy slows down Amazon’s grocery business and holds the company back.

Related: Amazon Tells Thousands of Employees to Relocate or Resign

“The feedback I’ve gotten from team members and employees is that ultimately, we’re wasting time,” Buechel said at the meeting. “It’s taking too long for decisions and approvals to take place, and it’s actually holding back some of our initiatives.”

^{Jason Buechel. Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit}

Amazon’s emphasis on reducing bureaucracy extends up to CEO Andy Jassy. In September, alongside a return-to-office mandate, Jassy introduced a “bureaucracy mailbox” for employees to submit examples of where they saw unnecessary processes or rules at the company. By November, that inbox had received more than 500 emails and Amazon had acted on more than 150 suggestions.

Jassy also announced in September that the company would eliminate excess layers of middle management by the end of March. Amazon achieved this goal by pausing the hiring of new managers, demoting some managers, and requiring existing managers to increase their number of direct reports.

At a leaked all-hands meeting in November, Jassy said that “one of the reasons” he was still at Amazon was “because it’s not a political or bureaucratic place.”

“The reality is that the [senior leadership team] and I hate bureaucracy,” Jassy said at the meeting.

Related: ‘I Hate Bureaucracy’: Leaked Internal Amazon Document Reveals How the Tech Giant Is Cutting Down on Middle Management

Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees since 2022 to cut costs, and recently conducted layoffs in various departments. The retail giant cut dozens of jobs in its Goodreads site and Kindle division earlier this month.

Amazon’s grocery business faced layoffs earlier this week when the company laid off at least 125 employees who worked in a Fresh grocery store in Federal Way, Washington. An Amazon spokesperson told The Seattle Times that the employees had the option to transfer to similar roles at nearby sites.

Amazon employs 1.56 million full-time and part-time employees.

“I have definitely been eating these without a care in the world.”

A woman is urging others to be careful what they eat after buying a package of Medjool dates from Whole Foods and finding what she believes to be mold inside some of them.

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But her findings turn out to be a normal phenomenon in dates.

TikTok user Sargina (@sargina89) posted a video about her Whole Foods date problem on June 13.

Should you cut your Medjool dates in half before eating?

“This is why you should cut your dates in half before you eat them,” she says to start the video. “Honestly, it’s very common that sometimes they get moldy on the inside. That right there? That’s mold.”

That’s why Sargina discourages her followers from biting into their dates without first double-checking them by cutting them in half. “Check your Medjool dates before biting into them,” she wrote in the caption.

“Ignorance is bliss.”

The internet didn’t abandon its obligation to roast her in the comments. 

“First sentence from Jeffrey Dahmer,” joked one user.

“I would never eat dates, but I definitely won’t ever now,” said a second.

“I have definitely been eating these without a care in the world,” admitted a third user. “Ignorance is bliss, I guess.”

However, one person said Sargina is mistaken. “It’s actually cellulose (fiber),” they wrote. “Mold that grows on dates grows on the outside and is white and fluffy. Those are safe. Enjoy.”

@sargina89 Check your medjool dates before biting into them! #dates #medjooldates #snack ♬ original sound – Sargina

Is that mold inside your date?

According to this article from date seller Nara, dates can grow mold on the inside and outside of the fruit structure. But the commenter is correct that it will look white and fluffy.

Natural Delights, the date brand Sargina actually purchased from, notes that the white film you may notice inside your dates is actually just crystallized sugar. This can happen during storage due to the natural curing process of the dates.

The same FAQ page notes that dates rarely grow internal mold.

Still, Sargina is correct that you should carefully check dates to make sure that you’re not eating a moldy one by accident.

The article specifically mentions Medjool dates and mold, because they are extremely fresh and therefore susceptible to mold growth, most commonly on their exteriors. The article recommends storing these dates in the refrigerator or even the freezer to prevent mold. Of course, eating them quickly is the best course of action.

The Daily Dot reached out to Sargina via TikTok comment and direct message and to Whole Foods via email for comment.

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