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Clarification of Product Approval vs Ingredient Approval
Within Compass, the system was designed with flexibility to submit Products AND Ingredients individually as their own records. This was to accommodate the needs, process, and flow of some clients needing to vet Ingredients ahead of them being used to ensure there were no additional details or documents needed for such prospective Ingredients. Despite our allowance to submit ingredients independent of Products, no Ingredient/material should be used in GFCO production until that Ingredient is approved AND connected to an approved Product, as this demonstrates that the Ingredient has been assessed against GFCO criteria and requirements in context of its use, proportions, and composition within the Product.
It should also be noted that Ingredients submitted for review prior to being attached to Products will only be reviewed on request. GFCO will not generally review ingredients that are not attached to Products submitted for certification.
We want to make sure that we reiterate, that an Ingredient having a status of “approved” does not mean the Ingredient can be universally used in GFCO production across all products. The Ingredient must still be submitted and associated with an approved Product for that Ingredient to be used in that Product’s production. The approval of the Ingredient only signifies that the Ingredient has all qualifying criteria needed, but the approval of the use of that Ingredient in a Product comes from the review and approval of that Product containing that Ingredient(s).
The approval of the Product represents that the product, and all ingredients it contains, meets criteria and requirements for certification. The approved product will only be displayed on a GFCO certificate after the location(s) where the product is made has been audited and meets the standards for GFCO production.
A valid GFCO certificate displaying the Product is required in order to allow the use of the GFCO certification mark on, and in association with, that Product.
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