Federal inspectors have found E. coli contamination in raw cheddar cheese produced by Raw Farm LLC of Fresno, CA.
The dairy is linked to an ongoing E. coli outbreak that has sickened nine people across three states, California, Texas and Florida. Three of the patients have required hospitalization and one has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that can cause kidney failure, brain damage and death.
More than half of the outbreak patients are children younger than five years old, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The E. coli found in cheese the farm made from raw milk does not match the patients in the current outbreak, but it does match patients from an outbreak in 2025. The contamination was found in one of 19 samples tested by the FDA.
The FDA asked the dairy to recall its raw cheddar cheese in March because of an epidemiological link between it and outbreak patients. The dairy refused to initiate a recall for three weeks. When it did recall the implicated cheese it did so “under protest.”
There is concern that some consumers may still have the recalled cheese in their homes because its shelf life reaches into September this year. For details on the recall, click here.
Federal, state and local public health officials recommend against consuming any products made with raw milk because of the danger of pathogens that would be killed if the milk was pasteurized.
United States Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his stance on raw milk at a congressional hearing on April 16. Kennedy has touted raw milk and has been a long-time customer of Raw Farm LLC.
When DeLauro asked Kennedy if he would tell the public to stop drinking raw milk because of its dangers, the secretary failed to give a specific answer, instead saying that the federal government does not regulate raw milk. However, federal law prohibits the sale of raw milk across state lines. And, the FDA information page on raw milk tells the public to not drink it or give it to children because of the dangers of bacteria in unpasteurized milk.
Raw Farm products have been implicated in numerous recalls and outbreaks in recent years:
Date | Product | Contaminant | Recall/Illnesses |
September 2006 | Raw Milk | E. coli O157:H7 | Six ill, two with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome |
September 2007 | Raw Cream | Listeria monocytogenes | Recall Issued |
December 2007 | Raw Milk | Campylobacter | Eight Illnesses |
September 2008 | Raw Cream | Campylobacter | Recall Issued |
November 2011 | Raw Milk | E. coli O157:H7 | Five ill, three with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome |
May 2012 | Raw Milk/Cream | Campylobacter | 10 Illnesses |
October 2015 | Raw Milk | Campylobacter | Recall Issued |
January 2016 | Raw Milk | E. coli O157:H7 | Nine ill, two with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome |
May 2023 | Raw Milk | Campylobacter | Recall Issued |
August 2023 | Unpasteurized Cheese | Salmonella | Recall Issued |
December 2023 | Raw Milk | Salmonella | 19 Illnesses |
October 2024 | Raw Milk | Salmonella | 171 Illnesses |
December 2024 | Unpasteurized Cheese | E. coli O157:H7 | 11 illnesses |
