The use of wood for cheese ripening or aging is considered an unsanitary practice by FDA, and a violation of FDA's current Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations.
Many of the most awarded and well-respected American artisan cheeses are currently aged on wooden boards. It is a thousands-year-old tradition that in some cases defines the very type of cheese. This ban will hurt American business and reduce American competitiveness abroad.
Work with industry leaders to lift this unnecessary ban!
In 2013, the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research published a paper showing that wooden board cheese aging was safe with proper routine board care.
https://www.cdr.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/pipelines/2013/pipeline_201...