Whole Foods Market chief executive John Mackey faced a backlash from customers after he likened President Obama’s health care reforms to fascism.

The comment was made during an interview to promote his new book when Mackey was asked about a 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal in which he had likened Obamacare to socialism. Mackey replied: “Technically speaking, it’s more like fascism.”

Following a tirade of negative comments on social media sites, Mackey apologised for his “poor word choice”.