The Food Marketing Institute, the National Grocers Association and the Grocery Manufacturers Association reacted favorably Thursday to the House’s passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act by a 275-150 vote. Opposition groups voiced their frustration with the legislation they’ve dubbed the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act.

The measure now goes to the Senate.

The legislation would preempt individual states like Vermont from mandating that genetically modified foods be labeled as such.

Also under the legislation, any company interested in labeling their products “GMO free” would have to undergo a USDA certification process.

“Having a clearly defined national labeling standard to identify the GMO content of food products is essential if we hope to avoid adding to consumer confusion about GMOs, and if we wish to elude unnecessary impediments to interstate commerce, both of which would result from a state-by-state patchwork of muddled, differing and conflicting GMO labeling laws,” said Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI, in a statement.

Peter Larkin, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association likewise applauded the House passage of H.R. 1599.

“On behalf of the independent supermarket industry, we applaud the House for passing this important legislation that creates a uniform federal standard for the labeling of non-genetically engineered products, and more importantly, ensures that the consumers our members serve on a daily basis have clear and consistent information on the food products that they purchase and consume nationwide. We look forward to working with members of the Senate to pass this legislation,” said Larkin, in a statement.

In a press statement, Pam Bailey, president and CEO of GMA, which along with other food associations challenged Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law with a lawsuit, thanked the sponsors of H.R. 1599.

“Today’s bipartisan passage of the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (HR 1599) clearly demonstrates the growing support for this critically important legislation,” she said. “We thank the sponsors of this bill, Congressmen Mike Pompeo (R-KS) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), along with Congressmen Mike Conaway (R-TX), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Fred Upton (R-MI) and the other members who supported it for standing on the side of consumer choice, science and fact-based labeling. We now call on the U.S. Senate to move quickly on a companion bill and pass it this year.”