The mortuary industry is also covered by state regulations designed to keep out competition, justified by entirely specious public health reasons. For example, it is illegal to import wooden boxes without a license in most American states, if those boxes are intended to be either buried or burned. Wooden boxes are well-understood commodity items which, if they had an OSHA sheet, would be stamped "generally regarded as safe."

The bridal-industrial complex does not benefit from similar regulations, but not for want of trying.