Lawmakers in numerous U.S. states are hearing from their constituents wanting to know whether their food contains genetically modified organisms, and to press for legislation to mandate labeling by food manufacturers.

A year ago, New York State Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal sponsored a bill that would mandate the labeling of foods containing GMOs. The bill, A03535 never made it out of committee. This year she introduced the bill again, and, backed by more robust outreach, it did pass through the Consumer Committee as well as the Codes Committee. The bill had to go through one more committee, but then the New York State legislative session was over.

Rosenthal said "I have to tell you about the hordes of lobbyists that occupied Albany for months trying to stop this bill. They said their mission was to kill the bill in the first committee, and they were unsuccessful and that gives us hope for further progress next January."

She said the lobbyist are well-financed by DuPont, Kraft, Monsanto and the Farm Bureau, and she is waiting for the New York Campaign Finance report to come out in mid-July to see which companies gave to which politicians, because they spent millions of dollars against the bill.

Rosenthal said the groups fighting for labeling are small non-profits, advocates and consumers. "This is a real grassroots effort, and people want to know. Ninety-three percent of people across the country told the New York Times in a survey "We want to know" [if GMOs are in our food]."

Rosenthal added, "By the end of the legislation session I had about 65 sponsors for the bill; that is more than one third of the Assembly and it is bipartisan. It is not party ideology; it's a consumer right to know issue. And ultimately I don't think that can be defeated. It might take a while but we are working very hard."

Those groups against labeling maintain it would affect every sector of food production and make food more costly. A recent Cornell University study by Bill Lesser of the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University said if mandatory labeling were to become law in New York, the cost of food for a family of four would increase by $300 to $800 annually.

Assemblywoman Rosenthal says people should get educated on the issue, contact their elected officials, and tell them their demands and their opinion.

Vermont passed label legislation this year. A Connecticut law requires that four additional states, including one on the border, pass similar legislation. Further, a combination of Northeastern states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania or New Jersey), with an aggregate population of at least 20 million people, must approve labeling legislation. Massachusetts has a promising bill also in the pipeline.

More than 62 countries around the world ban GMOS or require labeling.