Wooden boards have been used for many years in most traditional cheesemaking countries as a shelving mechanism for aging cheese. In France, more than 300,000 tons of cheese are ripened on wooden boards each year (Meyer, 2005).

Most artisan cheesemakers feel that wooden shelves favour cheese rind development and improve the organoleptic qualities of aged cheeses thanks to the formation of a biofilm on the wood surface. Is this biofilm safe? Might it favour the development of spoilage and potential pathogenic bacteria?

The purpose of this review is to look at the benefits of wooden boards as well as the potential concerns and how to avoid them - please refer to article attached.