There’s something deeply unsettling about watching a public health crisis unfold in real time, especially when the company at the center of it all refuses to budge. The FDA has linked Raw Farm’s raw milk cheddar cheese to an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least seven people across California, Florida, and Texas. The agency has asked the company to voluntarily remove the products. The CDC is urging people not to eat them.
Raw Farm’s response? A flat-out refusal to recall.
The Details We Know So Far
The illnesses started appearing between September 2025 and mid-February. Five cases were in California, with one each in Florida and Texas. The most troubling part is that more than half the people who got sick were children under three years old. Two people ended up in the hospital.
Genetic analysis of the E. coli samples from three confirmed patients showed they were closely related, which is exactly the kind of evidence epidemiologists use to link cases to a common source. The patients all reported eating Raw Farm brand raw milk cheddar cheese before getting sick. It’s not a smoking gun, but it’s pretty close.
When Ideology Meets Public Health
Mark McAfee, Raw Farm’s owner, isn’t having it. His argument is simple: no pathogens have been found in any of his products. He’s also questioning whether the genetic linkage is real and calling the outbreak announcement premature.
Here’s the thing though. The FDA and CDC don’t typically issue warnings like this without solid evidence. These agencies have spent decades developing protocols for identifying and responding to foodborne illness outbreaks. They’re not in the business of manufacturing crises or targeting specific companies for fun. The investigation is ongoing, and officials are still working to gather information from the remaining four cases.
But Raw Farm’s resistance raises a uncomfortable question about how much we should expect companies to act on health guidance that doesn’t come with legal teeth. A voluntary recall means the company can simply say no. And when they do, what happens to the vulnerable populations like infants and young children who are most at risk from E. coli?
The Raw Milk Question Nobody Wants to Answer
Raw milk products have been contentious for years. Advocates argue they contain beneficial bacteria and enzymes that pasteurization destroys. Critics point to the very real risks of pathogenic bacteria like E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. The scientific consensus has long sided with the latter group.
No amount of careful handling can eliminate the risk entirely. That’s not because Raw Farm is incompetent or negligent, necessarily. It’s because raw milk by definition contains living bacteria, and some of those bacteria can make you very sick. Children, elderly people, and immunocompromised individuals are especially vulnerable.
The irony is that McAfee says investigators have found no pathogens in his products. If that’s true, it doesn’t prove anything one way or another. It just means they haven’t detected pathogens in the specific samples they tested. Absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence, especially with something as unpredictable as bacterial contamination.
What Should Happen Now?
The FDA has made its recommendation clear. The CDC has made its recommendation clear. Epidemiological evidence is pointing in one direction. At this point, the only question is whether Raw Farm will eventually do the right thing or whether regulators will need to step in with enforcement action.
People deserve to know what’s in their food and what risks come with it. They also deserve the chance to make informed decisions about whether they want to take those risks. But that only works if companies are operating in good faith and responding to evidence. When a company refuses to recall products potentially linked to illnesses in young children, it raises doubts about whether the burden of proof should really fall on consumers to protect themselves.
How many more people need to get sick before a company decides that voluntary recall might be worth considering?
