How an Ingredient Gets Its Processing Level: The Scorer Protocol

Source: The WISEcode Standard v1.0, Sections 5.1 and 5.2.

The six steps

1. Identify the ingredient. The most specific canonical name is used, with common label synonyms noted so that variants resolve to one entry.
2. Assign a baseline level. The ingredient is matched against the published criteria for Levels 1 to 4. Where two levels are arguable, the more processed one is chosen unless a written justification is recorded.
3. Check status against the concern list. If the ingredient appears on the Unique Ingredients of Concern schedule, it must be assigned Level 4 and tagged accordingly, even where its baseline level would have been lower.
4. Handle compound declarations. Compounds are expanded into sub-ingredients where data allows, or assigned the highest level present in the group. The list is then deduplicated.
5. Record the rationale. A standard rationale template is attached for the assigned level, with ingredient-specific context added where needed.
6. Update governance records. A previously unseen ingredient type gets a provisional entry, which is reviewed and then promoted to the master rationale database.

Weights, not levels, drive the score

The weight is the level minus one. Level 1 contributes 0, Level 2 contributes 1, Level 3 contributes 2 and Level 4 contributes 3. Unprocessed and minimally processed ingredients therefore add nothing to the total.

Why the protocol is published

Repeatability is what makes the score defensible. Because every assignment carries a recorded rationale, any individual call can be traced, reviewed and, where the evidence changes, revised through the governance process.