Process Authority Directory
The Process Authority Directory is a curated list of credentialed food scientists and labs who can review and approve your scheduled processes under 21 CFR Part 114 (FDA Acidified Foods regulation). The directory is available to all Iraca tenants from the Food Safety → Process Authorities section of the left navigation.
What is a Process Authority?
A Process Authority (PA) is a qualified person — typically a food scientist, university extension lab, or accredited private laboratory — with the expertise to evaluate whether your production process will consistently achieve a safe equilibrium pH (≤ 4.6) in your acidified food products (hot sauces, salsas, pickles, relishes, fermented products, etc.).
FDA regulation requires that every acidified food product have a scheduled process reviewed and approved by a Process Authority before commercial distribution. Without that approval on file, your product cannot legally be sold.
Using the Directory
Browsing listings
Open Food Safety → Process Authorities in the left navigation. You'll see:
- Featured listings — Process Authorities who appear at the top of the directory. These are highlighted with a gold "Featured" badge.
- All listings — remaining active PAs in alphabetical order.
Each card shows:
- Name and organization
- Credentials and background
- Regions served
- Food categories covered (e.g. hot sauces, fermented products)
- Typical turnaround time
- Price range
- A green Verified badge if the PA has reviewed and confirmed their own listing
Searching
Use the search bar to filter by name, organization, specialty, or region.
Contacting a Process Authority
Each listing includes:
- Visit website — opens the PA's website in a new tab.
- Contact — opens a pre-addressed email to the PA's contact address.
Reach out directly to discuss your product, get a quote, and start the review process. Iraca does not facilitate or manage the engagement — that happens between you and the PA.
Linking a Process Authority to a Scheduled Process
If you have the FDA Acidified Foods add-on active, you can link a PA from the directory to one of your scheduled processes:
- From the PA card, click Link to a scheduled process.
- You'll be taken to Compliance → Scheduled Processes.
- Open or create the scheduled process for your product and select the PA from the directory in the Process Authority field.
Linking a PA builds a track record in the directory and connects your compliance records to the PA who approved your process.
If you don't have the FDA Acidified Foods add-on, the link button is visible but disabled. The add-on also unlocks CCP logging, deviation tracking, and inspection packet generation.
Featured Listings
Featured Process Authorities appear at the top of the directory with a highlighted card. Featured placement is available to PAs who partner with Iraca — contact us at hello@iraca.app for details.
Featured placements are time-limited and expire automatically — a PA's listing returns to the standard section when their featured period ends.
What this directory does not do
- Iraca does not endorse or guarantee the quality of any listed Process Authority.
- Iraca does not manage contracts, payments, or communications between you and a PA.
- The directory does not submit your scheduled process to the FDA — FDA has no electronic submission portal for scheduled processes; the approved letter from your PA is your compliance record.