According to tests performed by Consumer Reports Food Safety and Sustainability, most packaged foods in the U.S. that are labeled as ‘natural’ were found to contain a considerable amount of genetically modified ingredients. Urvashi Rangan, executive director of the non-profit survey company says the ‘natural’ label is misleading for customers.

The survey was conducted on over 80 processed foods that contain corn or soy, the two most commonly genetically engineered crops in the U.S. Each product was tested twice to measure the GMO content. If a product registered less than 0.9 per cent genetically engineered corn or soy, it was considered GMO-free.

Although foods labeled as ‘non-GMO’ or ‘organic’ were not found to contain any genetically modified ingredients, any products that were labeled as ‘natural’ or did not make claims on its packaging regarding GMOs contained the genetically engineered ingredients, including cereals, chips and infant formula, according to Consumer Reports.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association in the U.S. has been pushing the federal government to define how to use the term “natural” on food packaging, while allowing GMO foods to be labeled as natural.

Certain U.S. states are considering mandatory labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, and Vermont has already passed a labeling law. Consumer Reports’ policy arm, Consumers Union, supports mandatory labeling of any products that contain GMOs.

According to an infographic by SMS Store Traffic, the top 10 most productive shopping malls in North America are Bal Harbour Shops in Bal Harbour, Florida; The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada; The Grove in Los Angeles, California; Pacific Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia; Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ontario; Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, Ontario; Mall at Millennia in Orlando, Florida; Oakridge Shopping Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia; The Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, New Jersey; and Chinook Centre in Calgary, Alberta.

Meanwhile, the world’s top three largest malls are New South China Mall in Dongguan, China at 659,612 square metres; Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, China at 557,419 square metres; and SM City North Edsa in Quezon City, Philippines at 482,878 square metres. Rounding out the top 10 are Isfahan City Center in Isfahan, Iran; I Utama in Selangor, Malaysia; Persian Gulf Complex in Iran; Central World in Bangkok, Thailand; Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Cevahir Mall in Istanbul, Turkey; and Sunway Pyramid Subang Jaya, Malaysia.

A recent study by the University of Warwick in the U.K. found a link between fruit and vegetable intake and mental wellbeing. According to the survey in England that included 14,000 participants, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables every day leads to a better mental health.

The participants had their mental health assessed by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, and they were all older than 16 years old. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also found in 2012 that mental wellbeing peaked when fruits and vegetables were consumed in seven portions per day.

Toronto-based Maple Leaf Foods has closed down its meat processing plant located in Moncton, New Brunswick. The company has operated the plant since 2000, and the closure will affect 100 employees working at the location. Maple Leaf Foods employs approximately 12,000 people in total, and exports hot dogs, deli meats and other meat products to locations in the U.S., Asia, and more.

Production of the plant has been transferred to other facilities in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Hamilton. This decision has been part of the company’s restructuring that was announced back in April. The restructuring is set to end in the next few months.

McCain Foods Limited has welcomed Shai Altman to its team as the new president after 10 months of operating without a president for its Canadian division. Altman will start his position on October 20 and replace Darryl Rowe, who stepped down from the Canadian president position last December. Before joining McCain’s team, Altman has worked at Wrigley.

“Shai’s passion, expertise and dedication to strategic growth will be of great value to McCain,” McCain president and CEO Dirk Van de Put told Canadian Grocer. “He will be a tremendous asset to both our Canadian business and our North American senior leadership team.”

The comfort and ease of online shopping is a growing attraction for consumers, so much so that malls are being forced to entertain shoppers just to keep them coming back.

The strategy several malls are using is to feature entertainment and digital attractions, as is the case with Cadillac Fairview Corp., one of the country’s biggest mall landlords. The mall developer will double its marketing budget next year as it looks into ways to entice shoppers to return, according to John Sullivan, chief executive officer of the company.

“We will put a fairly significant investment into an entertainment component in many of our malls,” he said at a panel session at the International Council of Shopping Centres conference.

E-commerce accounted for 4.5 per cent of total retail sales in Canada last year, although that number is expected to grow to 8.2 per cent by 2018, according to eMarketer.

Although Statistics Canada reported sales dropped from June to July 2014 by 0.1 per cent, this is based on its seasonally adjusted data, which are comprised of estimates.

In reality, July 2014 retail sales grew 6.6 per cent since July 2013 when not seasonally adjusted, which was the largest single-month gain in over two years. In addition, sales from May until July grew by 5.3 per cent year-over-year, which is again higher than numbers seen over the past two and a half years, which can be seen more in Food and Drug and Store Merchandise categories, as opposed to the Automotive sector as in years past.

Food and Drug sector stores experienced sustained sales growth over the last few months. Health and personal care stores saw an increase of 6.8 per cent for the three months ending in July 2014, compared with sales from the same period one year ago. Supermarkets also saw a gain of 1.3 per cent for the period ending in July.

Target stores launched in Canada to much fanfare, only to face disappointment when some store shelves sat empty due to stock issues and its prices were higher than its American counterpart.

Now, however, Target Canada has changed its strategy for the Canadian market and is offering prices that even beat out its biggest competitor Walmart Canada, according to a report in the Globe and Mail.

After a study comparing the two discount retailers was conducted by Kantar Retail of Boston, Target Canada was found to have prices that were 3.9 per cent lower than those at Walmart Canada across 33 national brands in the grocery, healthy and beauty aisles of the stores. This compares to a similar study conducted in 2013 that showed the two retailers had similar prices.

Now, Target faces challenges in shifting price perception among its Canadian consumers, according to report in the Globe.

We spoke to Linda Bolton of Natural Calm Canada about being named one of Canada’s top female entrepreneurs by PROFIT Magazine and Chatelaine.

When Target launched in Canada, it relied heavily on the fact that many Canadians had already experienced shopping at Target stores across the border and came to expect the same service on home field.

According to a survey of 1,000 Canadian women by Headspace Marketing, residents of Quebec were less familiar with Target than Canadians across the rest of the country. Now, less than a quarter of Quebec women have shopped at Target stores in the U.S. compared to over half of Canadian women in other provinces.

When Target launched in Quebec, it adopted the same formula for its launch as it did in the rest of the country. The company also made an effort to appeal to residents of the province by having local celebrity Mitsou pose next to Bullseye, Target’s mascot. It made deals with local designers and complied with French language laws in the province across its operations.

Meanwhile, another survey by ResearchNow states that nine out of 10 Canadian women have shopped at Target stores at least once in the past year. 61.7 per cent of these women rated their shopping experience as good or very good, while 7.3 per cent rated it as bad or very bad. Women from Quebec are less likely to rate their experience at the store as good, as only 52.1 per cent did so, while 38.4 per cent of Quebec women rated their experience there as neither good nor bad compared to 28.7 in the rest of Canada.

The survey further asked Canadian women which departments they would shop at the store. Most women stated they would buy clothing and accessories there, at 61.8 per cent. Meanwhile, 48.6 per cent of women said they would shop in the home décor section, and 49.9 per cent would purchase everyday items from the retail giant. 44 per cent of women said they would buy their groceries from Target, and 31.5 per cent would pick up beauty essentials from the store. Quebec shoppers, however, do not see the retailer as a place to purchase clothing, accessories, home décor, groceries and everyday items.

If Target wants to appeal to its Quebec shoppers, it will have to make some changes to get on their shopping lists.