A California dairy producer that health authorities have been investigating amid an ongoing outbreak of E. coli is recalling some of its raw cheese products, after initially refusing to do so. Raw Farm of Fresno, California, said Thursday it is voluntarily recalling more than a half-dozen varieties of its cheddar cheese made from raw milk. The recalled batches carry expiration dates spanning from May 2026 to September 2026, the AP reports. The Food and Drug Administration began investigating cases of E. coli food poisoning among people who had reportedly consumed the company's products last month and previously requested a recall. The FDA said last week that nine people, including children, have been sickened in the expanding outbreak.
In an update last week, the FDA said it was conducting an inspection of the company's facilities but had not found positive testing for E. coli bacteria among the company's products. Raw Farm reiterated that point in its announcement Thursday and added that it was conducting its recall "under protest" and in order to chart "a path forward." "This voluntary recall is limited to Raw Farm-brand cheddar cheese, and no other products are being voluntarily recalled," the company said. The FDA has the authority to order food companies to recall their products when there is a reasonable risk of serious injury or death, but the agency must first give the company the opportunity to voluntarily comply.
- "It was a standoff between us and them," Raw Farm president Aaron McAfee tells the New York Times. He says he decided to issue the recall on the advice of the company's lawyers.
Of eight people interviewed by health officials, seven reported consuming Raw Farm-brand products, according to the FDA. Darin Detwiler, a professor of food regulatory affairs at Northeastern University, tells the Times that it's common for outbreak investigators to never find a food sample that tests positive because it takes time for outbreaks to surface. "Think of it like a crime scene," he says. "Multiple witnesses describe the same suspect. Security footage shows the same person entering each location. But the suspect has already left the building. That's what's happening here."
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. Detwiler, who became a food safety advocate after his 16-month-old son died in the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, says Raw Farm should have acted sooner. Interest in and sales of raw milk have been rising in recent years, fueled by social media and growing support from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement. Raw milk has not been pasteurized, which kills germs like E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and campylobacter.
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