On Sunday, federal regulators revealed that a recent E. coli outbreak, affecting at least seven people across three states, has been linked to a raw cheddar cheese product.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that most of those infected are children aged 3 or younger, located in California, Texas, and Florida.
Among the seven confirmed cases, five were in California, while Florida and Texas each reported one case.
“The FDA and CDC, in coordination with state and local counterparts, are probing a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections,” stated the FDA.
“As of March 14, 2026, there have been seven confirmed infections reported across three states.”
Investigators have traced the outbreak to RAW FARM, a California-based, family-owned company known as the largest raw dairy producer in the country.
Despite recommendations from the agency, RAW FARM declined to voluntarily recall its shredded raw cheddar cheese product.
In response, RAW FARM took to social media on Monday to deny the allegations, asserting that the health agency’s claims were “false” and that tests have not confirmed a positive match for the E. coli strain.
“We completely disagree with the FDA and CDC’s allegations,” the company stated.
“All our products have tested negative for harmful bacteria, including E. coli O157:H7. The FDA has found no RAW FARM products tested positive for E. coli in the market.”
“The inaccurate statements by the FDA and CDC linking our brand to the outbreak amount to egregious and extreme harassment,” the company added.
The FDA acknowledged that no RAW FARM-brand cheddar cheese products have tested positive for E. coli so far, but mentioned that state partners have begun collecting product samples.
Investigators have used epidemiological data, a scientific method that examines the distribution, patterns, and causes of health-related events, to trace the infections.
“Epidemiologic evidence suggests that RAW FARM-brand raw cheddar cheese products made by RAW FARM LLC are the probable source of this outbreak,” the agency indicated.
Federal regulators noted that all three individuals who were interviewed reported eating RAW FARM-brand cheese. Local officials are continuing to gather information on the remaining four cases.
