The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to be abolished by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, sparking claims that the government has "caved in to big business".
In recent years, the watchdog has fought a battle with the food industry over the introduction of colour-coded warnings on groceries.
The Guardian reports that the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) will now take responsibility for the FSA's regulatory aspects, which include safety and hygiene.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "Getting rid of the FSA is the latest in a number of worrying steps that show Andrew Lansley caving in to the food industry. It does raise the question whether the health secretary wants to protect the public health or promote food companies."
Representatives of the National Obesity Forum, the Food Ethics Council, and the Soil Association also rounded on the plan.
In a green paper on health last year, the Tories said that they would scale back the FSA and place the formerly independent watchdog under ministerial control.
The Department of Health will only confirm that the FSA is "under review".
