At least seven people in three states have been sickened by an Escherichia coli outbreak linked to raw (unpasteurized) cheddar cheese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday.
Four of the seven Shiga toxin–producing E coli (STEC) infections are in children under three years old. Two people have been hospitalized. Five of the case-patients are in California, with one each in Texas and Florida. The age of case-patients ranges from one to 28 years.
STEC spreads primarily through contaminated food and water and can cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, and fever. It’s the leading cause of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure and death. STEC is estimated to cause more than 265,000 infections in the United States each year.
Known illness-onset dates range from September 1, 2025, to February 13, 2026. The CDC said the true number of sick people in the outbreak is likely higher.
Company won’t remove products from sale
The CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with state and local public health officials, are investigating the outbreak, which is linked to cheddar cheese from Raw Farm, a producer of raw dairy products based in Fresno, California. Of the three people who have been interviewed so far, all three reported eating Raw Farm cheddar, and whole-genome sequencing of E coli samples from case-patients shows the isolates are closely genetically related, which suggests a common source.
The FDA said no Raw Farm cheddar cheese products have tested positive for E coli as of yet. State partners have initiated collection of product samples for testing and analysis, but results are not available. The FDA has recommended that Raw Farm pull the product from the market, but the company has declined.
“They have found no pathogens in any of our products,” Raw Farm’s owner told the Associated Press.
The CDC is recommending that people who have the affected cheese in their home “consider not eating” the product while the investigation is ongoing. The FDA says any consumers, restaurants, retailers, and foodservice customers who bought Raw Farm-brand cheddar cheese “may wish to carefully clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers that it touched.”
