An E. coli outbreak that infected at least seven people in three states has been traced to RAW FARM’s raw cheddar cheese product, though its producer declined to issue a voluntary recall despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration‘s recommendation.
The FDA said there have been seven cases reported including five in California, one in Florida and one in Texas.
“The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections,” the agency said. “As of March 14, 2026, a total of 7 confirmed infections have been reported from three states.”
Investigators traced the outbreak to RAW FARM, a family-owned company in California that is considered the United States’ largest producer of raw dairy products. RAW FARM, however, declined to issue a voluntary recall of the shredded raw cheddar when advised to do so by the FDA, instead denying the allegations as “false” and claiming no tests had confirmed a positive match for the E. coli strain in a post shared on its social media pages Monday (March 16)
“WE 100% DISAGREE WITH THE FDA’S FALSE “POSSIBLE LINK”, AND EXTREME ALLEGATIONS,” the company wrote in a post shared on its Facebook account. “We disagree 100% with the allegations made by the FDA and CDC.
“All of our products have been CONFIRMED to be negative for all harmful bacteria, including Ecoli 0157-H7.
“FDA has found NO Raw Farm products to be tested positive for Ecoli in the marketplace.
“CDFA and State of California are not taking any action. Inaccurate statements made by the FDA and CDC linking our brand to an outbreak is egregious and extreme harassment towards our brand.”
The FDA also confirmed that no products had tested positive for E. coli but noted that state partners began collecting product samples and investigators were able to track the infections using epidemiological data.
“Epidemiologic evidence indicates that RAW FARM-brand raw cheddar cheese products made by RAW FARM, LLC are the likely source of this outbreak,” the agency said.
All three individuals interviewed claimed to have eaten RAW FARM-brand cheese, according to federal regulators, who confirmed that local officials were working to gather more details about the other four cases.
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