Food labelling schemes designed to reassure shoppers about a product's quality only serve to confuse and need to be reformed, the Food Standards Agency has said.

Over 20 "kite mark" schemes are currently used in the UK, usually in the form of logos stamped on packaging, and more than 78,000 food producers take part in them.

But in a report published on Monday, the FSA said confusion over the meaning of logos had made it difficult for shoppers to make an informed choice.

And chairman Sir John Krebs will tell the annual conference of the Trading Standards Institute on Monday that the schemes must be run independently.

The red tractor logo does not always indicate British produce

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir John said: "People want to know how and where their food is produced - but are thoroughly confused by the plethora of logos and claims."

They include the "little red tractor", the RSPCA's animal welfare label Freedom Food, Assured Chicken, Farm Assured British Beef and the red Lion Quality mark stamped on eggs.

But many people wrongly assume the National Farmers' Union red tractor logo on packs of meat - one of the best known consumer labels in the UK - means that the product is British, Sir John said.

Minimum standards

It got the green light from the EU authorities only after the NFU agreed the logo would be used to identify food produced according to British standards, rather than that of British origin.

This means foreign food producers meeting the standards would be eligible to use the red tractor logo if they felt it would boost their sales in the UK.

Companies themselves have a major problem trying to track where their ingredients come from

Tim Lang, professor of food policy, Thames Valley University

Sir John wants greater clarity over how claims made by food labelling schemes are checked.

The FSA report makes three recommendations to "radically reform" the schemes, which it says are run with "widely differing standards of disclosure and transparency".

It wants an independent regulatory body to oversee use of the red tractor logo, which is currently done by Assured Food Standards.

The FSA also calls for minimum standards for each scheme, on areas such as consumer involvement, transparency, accreditation, inspections and use of logos.

Thirdly, it says there should be better co-operation between schemes.

But Tim Lang, professor of food policy at Thames Valley University, believes straightforward consumer labelling will be difficult to achieve.

He told Today: "The food supply chain has become immensely complex.

"Companies themselves have a major problem trying to track where their ingredients come from, let alone conveying it to the consumer."