A pan-European food safety plan has been drawn up to restore consumer confidence in quality and health standards.

The European Commission's plan, unveiled in a White Paper on Wednesday, covers food safety issues from the farm to the dinner table.

The plan was unveiled as Sir John Krebs, a zoologist, was made head of a new food standards agency in the UK.

EU food safety commissioner David Byrne said the European-wide system would establish "world class food safety standards and systems".

He said the proposals were the most radical and far-reaching ever presented to safeguard food standards.

The White Paper is launched in the wake of a number of food scandals and widespread concern about the safety of genetically-modified food.

In Britain, the BSE crisis has badly affected farmers and a ban on exporting British beef has only recently been lifted.

Many countries, notably France, are still refusing to import British beef.

In Belgium, chicken, meat and dairy products were removed from shelves after cancer-causing dioxins were found in animal feed.

And last week, some French-produced pates were recalled from across Europe after an outbreak of listeria.

EU member states will discuss the proposals, which are aimed at strengthening the current system of food monitoring and control.

If the European Food Authority (EFA) is established, it would work with national bodies but be the final arbiter in all decisions on food safety and food-related health issues.

Mr Byrne said: "Consumer confidence has been badly affected by the various food alerts and crises of recent years and months.

"I believe that our proposals should fundamentally address consumers' legitimate concerns with a view to restoring and maintaining confidence in food safety."

The White Paper says the EFA would be "based on the principles of the highest levels of independence, of scientific excellence and of transparency in its operations".

Its guidelines will operate in the interests of the consumer, it says - free from political or industrial pressure.

The Authority's job would be to assess all food health risks, covering animal health and welfare issues, and to involve itself in every stage from food production to consumption.

The document calls for more coherence in EU food legislation to close loopholes in more than 80 separate pieces of current food safety law.

And it says there will be closer monitoring, to ensure full implementation of legislation and improved information for consumers if and when potential food health risks arrive.