On One Hand, Eating Raw Cheese Might Kill You. But on the Other Hand … Yum?

Even knowing what I do about the delusions of the “natural” foods movement, a niche of American culture that once upon a time was associated with crunchy/granola liberals before it metastasized into a conspiracy-fueled land ruled over by the most cowardly man in the Trump administration, RFK Jr., I still manage to be surprised by otherwise rational Americans choosing to ingest things that may or may not result in a thrilling visit to the nearest hospital emergency room. There’s a truly American willfulness to these types of decisions; a statement of principal that you’d rather choose to believe the testimony of a grifter with a stethoscope strung over his neck when it comes to your health, rather than the collective findings of decades of scientific consensus. Milk and dairy products, for instance, have been widely pasteurized for consumer safety in the United States for more than 130 years at this point … but that doesn’t stop our modern generation of obstinate, disease-seeking fake health nuts from going out of their way to sicken themselves and their children with E. coli bacteria because of a TikTok they saw touting raw milk or raw cheese. And notably, it also doesn’t stop the vendors from selling that raw dairy, even after the FDA kindly asks if maybe they’d like to withdraw poisoned foodstuffs from the market.

But seriously, that is what has happened with a new outbreak of particularly damaging E. coli within the last month, linked to raw cheese sold by a California farm foods company that is literally called Raw Farm. You know, the same company that in 2024 was linked to a salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 165 people via raw milk, in the largest reported salmonella outbreak in the U.S. of the past decade. In the current outbreak, meanwhile, at least nine people have been sickened by an especially dangerous strain of E. coli after eating raw cheddar cheese, likewise linked to Raw Farm. And here’s the kicker, and the part of the story I love: Despite the FDA recommending that Raw Farm voluntarily remove its raw cheese products from the market in order to protect consumers, the producer has flat-out refused to do so, on the grounds that the FDA has not proven conclusively via lab testing that any of its currently stocked products have been contaminated with E. coli. The RFK-purged Center for Disease Controls, meanwhile, limply stated that consumers should “consider not eating” the products. Yeah, probably! And they should consider not downing a glass of liquid arsenic, too.

Odd story: FDA says Fresno farm’s raw-milk cheese likely caused E. coli outbreak; farm refuses to recall cheese because it doesn’t trust FDA; FDA, led by raw-milk fan RFK Jr, refuses to enforce recall. Meanwhile, 9 people, mostly kids, are sick; 3 are hospitalized (more cases likely unreported).

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— 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 (@charlescmann.bsky.social) Mar 30, 2026 at 10:26 AM

This is all the more ridiculous for the fact that the circumstantial evidence and disease tracing make it perfectly clear where these E. coli infections originated from. The FDA conducted interviews with several of the people who were sickened, and found that literally all three of the people they spoke with reported having eaten Raw Farm brand cheddar cheese beforehand. Even the E. coli strains found in the bodies of those who were sickened were genetically related, indicating that they came from the same place. The FDA thus concluded that Raw Farm was the “likely source” of the outbreak, but they simply haven’t found any additional E. coli as of yet in the products they’ve tested from the producer. And yet, between Sept. 2025 and Feb. 2026, nine people were sickened after consuming this raw cheese, with more than half of the illnesses in children aged 5 or younger, including two hospitalizations. According to CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana Wen, this strain of the bacteria is E. coli O157:H7, considered more dangerous than others because it produces a toxin that attacks the lining of the intestines, leading to results such as “severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea that is often bloody,” along with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure and death. Of the nine people sickened, one has already reportedly developed hemolytic uremic syndrome … potentially one of the young children.

“The main takeaway should be that raw milk and products made from it can carry dangerous bacteria, and that choosing pasteurized dairy products is a simple and effective way to reduce risk,” said Wen to CNN. “In addition, consumers should also pay attention to outbreak alerts and avoid products that have been linked to illness. If someone develops symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, high fevers or bloody diarrhea after consuming a high-risk food, they should seek medical care.”

A fascination with “raw” or unpasteurized dairy has become a hallmark of the right-wing MAHA movement of RFK Jr., despite the risks of debilitating disease inherent to eating food that may or may not be infected with deadly bacteria that the consumer can’t even test for themselves. Proponents of raw milk or raw cheese ascribe all kinds of incredible health benefits to consuming it, which are notably all over the place–driven by grifting health influencers, proponents have claimed everything from the power of raw milk to cure lactose intolerance, to claims that it cures asthma or allergies, osteoporosis, or repairs the gut or immune system. The FDA has poked holes in every one of these delusional bubbles with actual scientific research, but that doesn’t matter much to someone getting their health advice in 15-second bursts from TikTok.

Nor does it matter much to one Mark McAfee the owner of Raw Farm, who told CNN that he refused to recall the raw cheese products linked to the ongoing E. coli outbreak until the FDA literally tests one of his wheels of cheese and finds the bacteria there. He is continuing to claim that “they have found no pathogens in any of our products,” and reportedly “disputed the FDA’s findings that the cases were genetically linked,” which seems like the sort of thing that a cheesemonger probably wouldn’t be in any position to “dispute” unless he’s also secretly an epidemiologist on the side.

FDA: Hey Raw Milk Farms, your cheese has made 9 people sick, put 3 kids in the hospital, and gave one of them kidney failure. Can you please take it off the shelves?

RMF: Nah, we good. We don’t care if our product hurts children because our customers don’t care either.

www.fda.gov/food/outbrea…

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— Thomas Nguyen, DO (@tom.medsky.social) Apr 2, 2026 at 11:50 AM

The FDA, meanwhile, has the power to mandate a recall of a company’s food products from shelves, but prefers to allow companies to voluntarily recall, only using mandatory recalls as a last resort in the face of overwhelming evidence. So until that time, I guess you’re free to continue enjoying raw cheese’s incredible suite of benefits … with only a small chance of the accompanying “bloody diarrhea.” Sounds like a very worthwhile roll of the dice to us!