system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How does aging meats and things like cheese work and not just make them rot and gross?
gpt
The facilities used for aging meat are kept at very certain temperatures, humidities and so forth to discourage the growth of unwanted cultures, bacterias, molds while optimizing the growth of preferential cultures, molds, and bacterias.

Many kinds of cheese are sealed in a combination of cheese cloth and wax, which of course serve as a skin keeping unfriendly bacteria out.