Source: The WISEcode Standard v1.0, Section 3.1.10.
Definition
A processing aid is a substance used during manufacture to achieve a technological purpose but which does not remain in the finished product, or remains only in negligible amounts. Filtration agents, release agents and certain enzymes are typical examples.
How they are treated
Processing aids are excluded from scoring. Because they do not appear on the ingredient declaration, they contribute no processing weight and cannot trigger a Unique Ingredient of Concern.
The exception
If a substance leaves a functional residue in the finished product, it is no longer a processing aid for scoring purposes. It becomes a scored ingredient and is assigned a Processing Level in the normal way.
Why the Standard draws the line here
The model scores what a consumer actually eats, as declared on the label. Extending scoring to substances absent from the finished food would penalise manufacturing method rather than product composition, which is precisely the blunt approach the Standard was designed to avoid.
A note for brands
Do not add processing aids to your ingredient declaration in the belief that fuller disclosure improves your record. Anything listed on the label is scored.
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