Producer Won't Pull Cheese Linked to E.Coli Outbreak

UPDATE Mar 27, 2026 1:27 PM CDT

Nine people, including children, have been sickened in an expanding outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to raw milk and cheddar cheese made with it from Raw Farm, a Fresno, California, producer, health officials said. Two cases in California were added Thursday to the outbreak first announced March 15, bringing the total number of ill people in that state to seven. Two others fell ill in Texas and Florida, according to the CDC. Over half of the illnesses are in children younger than 5, the AP reports. Three people were hospitalized and one developed a dangerous type of kidney infection, the CDC said.

• Illnesses were confirmed from September to mid-February. Of eight people interviewed by health officials, seven reported consuming Raw Farm-brand products, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. Two people in 2025 reported drinking Raw Farm milk and five people in 2026 said they ate or were served Raw Farm raw cheddar cheese. Genetic sequencing of E. coli strains from sick people show that they are all closely related, indicating people in the outbreak "share a common source of infection," the FDA said
• FDA officials previously advised Raw Farm to recall its raw milk cheddar cheese from stores, but the company refused. To date, no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E. coli, the agency said. FDA and state health officials conducted an inspection at a Raw Farm site. The CDC has advised consumers to "consider not eating this cheese while the investigation continues."

Mar 16, 2026 2:30 PM CDT

At least seven people in three states, including young children, have been sickened by E. coli food poisoning linked to cheddar cheese made from raw milk, federal health officials said Monday. California-based Raw Farm made the cheese that is the "likely source" of the outbreak, according to a Food and Drug Administration notice, though no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E. coli during the outbreak period, the FDA noted.

• Illnesses were reported between September 2025 and mid-February, the agency said. Five cases were reported in California and one each in Florida and Texas. More than half of the illnesses were in children aged 3 or younger. Two people were hospitalized.

• The FDA recommended that Raw Farm voluntarily remove its raw cheese products from sale, but the company has declined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged consumers to "consider not eating" the products. The FDA has the power to issue mandatory recalls but it prefers for companies to voluntarily pull products, NBC News reports.
• Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm, said he refused to recall the products because investigators have not definitively linked them to any illnesses. "They have found no pathogens in any of our products," McAfee told the AP. He disputed the FDA's findings that the cases were genetically linked and said that the announcement of the outbreak was premature.
• McAfee is one of the nation's leading raw milk producers. He told NBC last year that he had expected to advise Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on ways to support raw milk producers and soften the government's stance on its risks, but he hadn't heard from Kennedy since shortly after his confirmation.
• The FDA said interviews with three people who got sick found that all three reported eating Raw Farm brand raw milk cheddar cheese. Analysis of samples from sick patients showed that the E. coli isolates that caused their infections were closely genetically related, investigators found.
• Officials are working to gather information from the additional four cases. The investigation is continuing to determine the source of contamination and whether additional products are linked to illnesses.