Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand (D) wants to have country of origin labels, COOL for short, applied to all dairy products sold in America.

"Food imports constitute a growing share of what is sold on grocery shelves across the country and what Americans eat," the senator said in a conference call from Washington.

According to her, food imported from China amounts to $52 billion a year and individual shipments of this food increased from 82.000 shipments in 2002 to 199,000 in 2006.

Just last month, she said, the Chinese government recalled 170 tons of milk powder that had been tainted with melamine.

"In 2008, milk tainted with melamine killed at least six infants and sickened more than 300,000 in China," the senator said.

Every year, she said, an estimated 87 million Americans are sickened by contaminated food, with 371,000 hospitalized because of food borne illnesses and 5,700 dying from food-related illnesses.

She said these statistics come from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

To protect families from imported dairy products and strengthen New York's dairy industry, Sen. Gillibrand said, "We must do more to protect consumers and provide a competitive edge to New York dairy farmers.

"All consumers have the right to know whether the milk, yogurt, cheese, butter and ice cream they buy are made in Upstate New York or China."

That's where the COOL legislation the senator is co-sponsoring comes in.

"This legislation supports both families and farmers by requiring country of origin labeling on all dairy products

"This labeling provides critical information to parents and all adults to help them make smart choices for their families."

She said the COOL labeling legislation is now working its way through the senate committees and should be ready for a vote within the next six to nine months.

The senator also said this COOL labeling should not add to the price of the dairy foods that will carry it, should the proposed legislation become law.

"It's just a matter of printing up new labels," she said.

New York State Farm Bureau vice president Eric Ooms offered his support for the senator 's COOL legislation.

"It's important that consumers know where the food they buy comes from," he said.

Sen. Gillibrand said she also wants to keep New York dairy farms functioning and viable

"COOL legislation will offer quality assurance when it comes to our food and we need to shine a light on the lack of transparency, we need comprehensive reform." she said.