New York, NY – Today, Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan), sponsor of bill A. 617-A, New York’s GMO labeling bill, blasted corporate opponents for their recently launched misinformation campaign designed to confuse New Yorkers who overwhelmingly support GMO labeling and nutritional transparency. Assembly cosponsors have reported that constituents are receiving industry-funded phone calls urging them to oppose a bill that would increase their monthly grocery bills by $500, a blatant lie. The call is then routed to their State representatives.

After passing out of the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee during the first month of legislative session, bill A. 617-A has just one more committee vote before heading to the floor of the Assembly for a full vote. The bill enjoys bipartisan support from a near-majority of all members. More than 90% of Americans and an overwhelming number of New Yorkers support this bill and efforts to provide them with more detailed information about the food that they feed to their families.

“Clearly, the industry is scared,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “If you can’t win the debate without lying to the public, then you have no business being in the game. The industry knows it can’t win on the merits – it’s never good business to block transparency measures designed to protect consumers – so it resorts to lies. This smacks of desperation, and I am more confident now that GMO labeling will be realized in New York. ”

Multiple independent sources have beaten back against industry arguments that GMO labeling would increase consumer grocery costs. A Consumers Union (the policy arm of Consumer Reports) commissioned-report found that the cost of GMO labeling to consumers would be $2.30 a person annually – less than a penny a day. And the assumptions in the industry-funded study mentioned in the push call that predicts a $500 increase are so tenuous that the Washington Post Fact Checker column gave it a rating of three out of four “Pinocchios” (a Pinocchio signifies mostly false information with significant factual error or obvious contradiction).

Industry opponents of GMO labeling include Grocery Manufacturers Association, Monsanto, DuPont, Kraft, Pepsi, Dow Agrosciences, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Council for Biotechnology Information, General Mills and Bayer CropScience. Together, these corporations and affiliated lobbying groups have spent well in excess of $100 million across the country to defeat state efforts to require GMO labeling. In addition, they were also trying to push a bill through the US House of Representatives last July that would prohibit state GMO labeling laws and forbid the FDA to require mandatory GMO labeling at the federal level. A similar bill was just introduced in the Senate, the primary aim being to prevent Vermont’s GMO labeling law from going into effect on July 1, 2016. However, there’s no rational argument for keeping consumers in the dark about what they’re eating, especially when over 90% of them say they want to know about GMOs according to multiple polls. The New York Times Editorial Board has argued twice in favor of telling consumers what they’re eating, charging those in opposition with protecting corporate interests over consumer rights.

“My colleagues in the New York State Legislature who support GMO labeling have chosen to take a stand against corporate intimidation and in favor of the best interests of their constituents. I cannot thank them enough for standing with me in this fight,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal.