With the last major overhaul of U.S. labeling laws having occurred more than a quarter century ago, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday that it's time at the very least that regulators make clear which foods can be called "natural."

The Connecticut Democrat, during a stop in New Haven, urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to define "natural" as products avoiding artificial ingredients, synthetic substances, pesticides and growth hormones.

He added that food produced with genetically modified organisms also could be banned from being labeled "natural."

"The FDA really is aiding and abetting the big food companies in effect by default when it fails to provide some rules or standards," Blumenthal said in a phone interview later during a stop in Norwich.

"Nothing is more important to health than eating right, and consumers have never been more health conscious," he said.

Earlier this month, Blumenthal and three other original co-sponsors of the 2014 Food Labeling Modernization Act, including Connecticut's Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf asking the agency to clarify rules for using the word "natural" on food labels.

“We believe that nutrition information, ingredient lists, and health-related claims on food labels play an important role in the battle against obesity and diet-related disease,” said the letter, which also was signed by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., and U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.

“We are optimistic that, by considering our recommendations and finalizing robust requirements for the use of the term 'natural,' the FDA will continue to help consumers develop a greater understanding of the foods they are purchasing,” the letter read.

Blumenthal said he has yet to hear a response from the FDA, but he is hopeful, despite what he termed "an uphill battle," that Congress will pass this year some type of labeling reform in the face of opposition from the food industry.

The Food Labeling Modernization Act that Blumenthal and others introduced last year would take a comprehensive approach to reform the way consumers take in information about what they eat.

Among the issues addressed are misleading health claims, how ingredients are listed and facts about nutrition, calories, sugar and serving size.

Blumenthal said this would be the first major change to labeling laws since 1990 and, in some cases, requirements haven't changed since the initial regulations passed in the 1930s.

The lawmakers' letter to the FDA commissioner called on the agency to survey consumers, conduct studies and review research on what people believe when they see the term "natural" on a product.

The lawmakers point to a Consumer Reports survey showing more than half of consumers wrongly believed that such labels meant the food they consumed avoided growth hormones, antibiotics, artificial ingredients and GMOs.

Blumenthal said the FDA can issue a new rule related to using the term "natural" on labels without any legislation being required.

Consumers "desperately need accurate, truthful, complete information in an understandable form," Blumenthal said.

l.howard@theday.com