Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require genetically engineered foods to be labeled as such, the first time since 2000 that such legislation has been introduced in the Senate.

The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act, introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer, D-California, and Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, would require manufacturers and stores to identify products that contain genetically modified food ingredients or food grown from genetically modified seeds. It follows the failure of Proposition 37 in California, which sought labeling for a narrower set of genetically modified foods.

Though promoted by the bill’s sponsors as bipartisan, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Arkansas, and Congressman Don Young, R-Arkansas, are the only Republican co-sponsors of the legislation in the House and Senate. Last year Boxer and DeFazio were among 54 lawmakers who sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asking the agency to require the labeling of genetically engineered foods.

“American families shouldn’t have to play a guessing game when it comes to the food they put on their kitchen tables,” says Senator Jon Tester, D-Montana, who is co-sponsoring the bill. “Consumers have a right to know what’s in their food, and this bill gives them the tools they need to make informed decisions about the foods they choose.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires the labeling of more than 3,000 ingredients, additives, and processes, but does not require genetically modified foods be labeled. In fact, in a 1992 policy statement, the FDA allowed GE foods to be marketed without labeling, claiming that these foods were not materially different from other foods because the genetic differences could not be recognized by taste, smell, or other senses. Some 64 countries around the world already require the labeling of GE foods, including all the member nations of the European Union, Russia, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

The bills proponents say surveys show more than 90 percent of Americans support the labeling of genetically engineered foods. “Americans have the right to know about the foods they are purchasing,” says Andrew Kimbrell, executive director at the Center for Food Safety. “A vast majority of consumers have demanded that GE foods be labeled and without mandatory labeling American families are being left in the dark.”

Though the Biotechnology Industry Organization says it supports food labeling, it has opposed past efforts that it says could confuse consumers into believing that foods containing biotech-derived ingredients are somehow different in safety and nutritional characteristics when compared to conventional or even organic foods.

The organization says that although it has not seen the current bill, it has supported a voluntary and market-driven approach to food labeling. “Labels that identify foods as ‘certified organic’ or ‘Non GMO’ provide the necessary information for consumers who are looking for such products. These are existing programs that have proven to be successful in the marketplace,” the organization says. “Unfortunately, advocates of mandatory ‘GMO labeling’ are working an agenda to vilify biotechnology and scare consumers away from safe and healthful food products.”