FDA Reports Positive E. Coli Sample in Raw Farm Cheddar Investigation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that a sample of Raw Farm raw cheddar cheese tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 as part of the agency’s investigation into a multistate E. coli outbreak linked to the product.

As part of its investigation, FDA, in coordination with state partners, conducted onsite inspections and collected samples at Raw Farm’s retail and processing facilities. FDA collected and analyzed 19 samples of the brand’s raw cheddar cheese products, and one sample tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

FDA conducted further testing using whole genome sequencing (WGS), or DNA fingerprinting. The analysis showed that the strain found in the cheese is different from the strain linked to the current outbreak. Instead, it matches illnesses from a separate 2025 outbreak investigated by CDC.

The 2025 outbreak is no longer ongoing, but CDC and state officials are following up to determine whether epidemiologic information reveals if those sick individuals consumed Raw Farm-brand products, said FDA.

The current outbreak has sickened nine people, more than half of them children under 5, and hospitalized three, reported FDA. One person developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. No deaths have been reported. 

Illnesses have been reported in California, Florida and Texas, with onset dates ranging from Sept. 1, 2025, to Feb. 20, 2026.

The raw cheddar cheese that tested positive for E. coli was not shipped to stores and is not available for sale, said FDA. Sample testing and analyses by state partners are ongoing, and any additional positive test results will be reported on FDA’s outbreak advisory page.

On April 2, after two recall requests from the FDA, Raw Farm initiated a recall of certain cheeses “under protest,” contesting the FDA’s findings linking the product to the outbreak.

On April 7, Raw Farm updated the language and product names on its recall announcement and withdrew its previous statements that the recall was being performed “under protest” and “as a path forward.”

“While Raw Farm reserves its rights and disputes being the cause of this outbreak, in the interest of public health and safety, Raw Farm issues this voluntary recall,” Raw Farm said in its April 7 update.

Raw Farm previously declined FDA’s initial recommendation that it voluntarily remove its raw cheese products from the market on March 15.