What a process authority does
Updated
A process authority is a person or institution qualified to establish that your specific product, made your specific way, is safe. You cannot do this for yourself, and the requirement is not a formality.
The role
They evaluate your formulation and your process against the hazard and issue a scheduled process: the written specification of how this product must be made for it to be safe. It covers acidification method, the pH you must hit, equilibration time, fill temperature, container and closure, and how you verify each.
Most are university food science departments or private consultants with the relevant qualification. Several state extension services run one or will name one.
What they need from you
A finished recipe with weights rather than volumes, your actual method in the order you do it, the container and closure you intend to use, and usually samples. Sending a recipe you are still adjusting wastes the fee, because a material change means re-evaluation.
Be honest about the method. A scheduled process written for a procedure you do not actually follow protects nobody, and the gap between the filing and the bench is what an investigation finds.
What you get back
A written scheduled process with a number, which is what you file and what a retailer or inspector asks for. It will specify critical limits and the records you must keep to show each batch met them.
Read it properly rather than filing it. It is the document that tells you what you may and may not change, and producers routinely alter viscosity or particle size without realizing they have stepped outside their own process.
Finding one
Start with your state's extension food science program, which is the cheapest route and often free to state residents. Cornell's Food Venture Center and several other university centers take work from outside their state.
Expect weeks rather than days, and expect to be in a queue in spring when everyone else is preparing for market season. This is the step to start before you think you need it, because it gates everything downstream.