At least seven people in three states, including one Florida resident and young children, have been sickened by E. coli food poisoning linked to cheddar cheese made from raw milk, federal health officials announced. California-based Raw Farm made the cheese that is the likely source of the outbreak, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E. coli during the outbreak period. Illnesses were reported between September 2025 and mid-February across California, Florida and Texas.
Five cases were reported in California and one each in Florida and Texas, with more than half of the illnesses occurring in children aged 3 or younger. Two people required hospitalization during the outbreak period. The FDA recommended that Raw Farm voluntarily remove its raw cheese products from sale, but the company has declined to comply with the federal agency’s request.
“They have found no pathogens in any of our products,” said Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm, in an interview. McAfee refused to recall the products because investigators have not definitively linked them to any illnesses. He disputed the FDA’s findings that the cases were genetically linked and said that the announcement of the outbreak was premature.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged consumers to “consider not eating” the Raw Farm products amid the ongoing investigation. 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.
Raw milk products have been linked to numerous foodborne illness outbreaks in recent years, as the pasteurization process kills harmful bacteria including E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria. The FDA has long warned against consuming unpasteurized dairy products, particularly for vulnerable populations including young children, pregnant women, older adults and people with compromised immune systems. Florida allows the sale of raw milk products under specific regulations, though many health experts recommend avoiding these products due to safety concerns.
Officials are working to gather information from the additional four cases as the investigation continues to determine the source of contamination and whether additional products are linked to illnesses. The investigation remains active as federal health agencies work to prevent additional cases and identify the specific source of the E. coli contamination in the Raw Farm cheese products.