Food authorities said they are investigating the outbreak of E. Coli growing this month is related to Raw Farm, a dairy farm in Fresno that is often described as the country’s largest producer of raw milk. But the company is fighting the allegations, saying officials have not provided evidence that its products are guilty.
The US Food and Drug Administration said last week that cheddar cheese from a California farm had given digestive bacteria to nine people in three states – seven of them in California – from September to February. More than half of the cases involved children under the age of 5, and three were hospitalized.
One case even developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure, the FDA said.
Authorities asked Raw Farm, which has 1,200 cows on 800 acres, to recall the product. The owners refuse and dispute the FDA’s “serious allegations.”
“Inaccurate statements made by the FDA and CDC linking our product to outbreaks of violence are a serious abuse of our product,” the company wrote on social media on March 16.
In a video update last week, the farmer’s president Aaron McAfee said that the latest tests show that “100% of the results are negative” in the market, in their food safety team or in government samples.
Farm technicians conducted 3,238 tests directly for E. coli from September to March, he had told the New York Times.
The FDA said it had “started” testing in the area last week and would update its advice as more information becomes available.
The farm takes food safety very seriously, McAfee told The Atlantic, and defended its cheese, which reportedly costs $16 a block and is sold at the high-end grocery market Erewhon. He noted that the farm has voluntarily recalled its products many times in the past.
However, in this case, McAfee said the test did not match the government’s claims and there was “only some evidence”.
The FDA has yet to legally compel Raw Farms to recall the cheese. The farm has supporters of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including his 2024 presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan, who visited the farm during the campaign.
Kennedy is a champion of raw milk and has railed against the FDA’s “strong push” for the drink, despite doctors’ warnings that it could exacerbate foodborne illness.
Raw Farm is a frequent critic of food health regulators. In 2024, the state stopped the farm from distributing products after finding bird flu in it. While the farm pumped its own water, CEO Mark McAfee still suspected it was a political witch hunt, he told the Post at the time.
“For the last 40 years the FDA has hated raw milk. There’s an inexplicable push for raw milk anywhere and any way I can,” he said.
