Assessment roles
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Awards Secretariat | Check completeness, manage correspondence, and maintain application records. |
| Scientific and technical reviewers | Assess the evidence and record the reasons for each finding. Each application requires at least two separate assessments. |
| Decision reviewer | Check the complete assessment and resolve material differences. This reviewer must be separate from the two initial reviewers. |
| Appeal reviewer | Examine the stated grounds without having made the original decision. |
Administrative staff cannot substitute their judgment for the required scientific assessments.
Qualifications and assignment
Assignments require expertise relevant to the application, such as nutrition research, formulation, toxicology, analytical science, manufacturing quality, or labeling.
The appointment requirements include verification of material credentials and training in the criteria, evidence requirements, confidentiality, and conflict procedures. General professional standing alone is not sufficient for every product category.
Conflicts of interest
Reviewers must disclose relevant employment, consulting, research, financial, and personal relationships. A material conflict can require recusal and reassignment.
Applicants may report a documented concern but cannot choose their reviewers. Individual case assignments and confidential deliberations remain private.
Consistency of assessment
Reviewers use the published scoring framework and support their findings with evidence and reasons. Training cases and periodic checks are part of the program’s consistency requirements.
The final review must address material differences between assessments. An unexplained average of scores is not a decision rationale.