FDA Warns Raw Milk Cheese Sickened 13 Across 9 States

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O26:H11 infections tied to raw milk cheese distributed across the country, federal health officials said.

As of the CDC's September 25 update, 13 people in nine states had been confirmed sick, according to the agency. Eight of them have been hospitalized, and three have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication that can cause kidney failure, brain damage, or death. The patients range in age from 1 to 58, with a median age of five, and most of them are small children.

Investigators traced the outbreak to Sierra Nevada Graziers grass-fed raw milk cheese, made by Sierra Nevada Cheese Company of Willows, California. Every patient interviewed about what they ate in the week before falling ill reported eating the company's raw milk cheese. That stands out because only 4.9 percent of people in the CDC's FoodNet Population Survey say they eat raw milk cheese in a given week, and whole genome sequencing shows the bacteria from the patients are closely related, pointing to a single common source. The chain of evidence was reported in detail by Food Safety News.

On September 24, the FDA contacted the company to notify it of the outbreak and recommend a recall. The company agreed the same day and pulled all four varieties of its Graziers raw milk cheese: medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeno jack, and Monterey jack. The cheeses were sold nationwide in 8-ounce and 16-ounce retail packages, and to restaurants and wholesalers in 5-pound loaves. There are no lot codes to check, because the investigation has not narrowed the problem to a specific batch or date code: if it is a Graziers raw milk cheese, it is part of the recall.

How the recall affects what is in your fridge

The FDA is telling consumers, restaurants, and retailers not to eat, sell, or serve the recalled cheeses, according to Food Poison Journal. Because cheese has a long shelf life, people who bought it weeks ago may still have it at home. Anyone who froze or refrigerated the cheese without its original packaging and cannot tell whether it is part of the recall should throw it away. Stores that received the cheese in bulk and repackaged it under their own labels should pull it from shelves and clean any surfaces it touched.

The illnesses began between July 7 and August 26, and the company said in a statement posted to social media that the cases have been associated with its medium cheddar. Even so, it recalled every Graziers raw milk cheese on the market, since investigators have not pinned the contamination to one lot. Federal health agencies also warn that the confirmed cases may be only part of the picture: for every confirmed patient in an E. coli outbreak, roughly two dozen more go undetected, because many people never get tested, according to the CDC.

Why children are hit hardest

The kidney-failure complication seen in this outbreak, HUS, is most common in small children, whose immune systems are still developing. That matters here, since most of the patients are young children. Symptoms of E. coli infection often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that is frequently bloody, and vomiting. They can take days to appear after eating contaminated food. The CDC does not recommend antibiotics for suspected Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections.

People who ate the recalled cheese and feel sick should see a doctor and mention the possible exposure, since specific tests are needed to confirm the infection. Parents should watch for warning signs in children, including urinating less often, unusual tiredness, and pale cheeks, and seek emergency care if those appear.

This is not the company's first brush with regulators. In August 2025, California's state veterinarian ordered a statewide recall and quarantine of Sierra Nevada's Bella Capra raw goat milk cheddar after testing found Listeria monocytogenes in the cheese. The FDA said its investigation into the source of the contamination in this outbreak, and whether other products are affected, is ongoing.