Dive Brief:

• Vermont’s attorney general William Sorrell is requesting internal research on GMO crops from major seed and food companies, per recent motions filed in several U.S. district courts. These are part of the nearly two-year-old lawsuit filed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to overturn the state’s mandatory GMO labeling law.

• Requested research includes those related to “potential health or environmental impacts” of GMO crops and the pesticides used on them (from Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta). It also includes “consumer survey research” from the past decade about GMO foods and the use of the term “natural” on their product labels (from ConAgra, Kellogg, and Frito-Lay North America).

• Monsanto “will oppose the motion as untimely and unwarranted” and reaffirmed that the safety of GMO crops is “well established,” a spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal. Other companies either had no comment or said they were reviewing the attorney general’s requests.