Raw Milk Cheese E. coli Outbreak Sickens 13 Across Nine States

A raw milk cheese outbreak has put 13 people in nine states in the hospital or the doctor's office, and most of them are small children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the investigation on September 25, 2026. The bacteria is E. coli O26, a strain that produces Shiga toxin. The cheese is the Graziers brand of grass-fed raw milk cheese made by Sierra Nevada Cheese Company. Every sick person who was interviewed reported eating it.

People got sick between July 7 and August 26 in California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. Eight of the 13 were hospitalized. Three developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a type of kidney failure that follows some E. coli infections and hits young children hardest. More than half of the sick are age 5 or younger. No deaths have been reported. The 13 cases are the count as of September 25, and CDC expects it to climb, since it takes three to four weeks for a new illness to show up in the tally.

Sierra Nevada Cheese Company recalled the cheese on September 24. The recall covers Graziers medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeno jack, and Monterey jack in 8 ounce and 16 ounce retail packages, plus 5 pound loaves sold to food service. The cheese was sold at retailers nationwide and online. The Food and Drug Administration updated its advisory on September 29 and is working with CDC and state health departments to trace where the cheese went. Both agencies say the same thing: do not eat, serve, or sell it. These cheeses keep for a long time, so check the refrigerator and the freezer, throw out or return anything you find, and wash the surfaces and containers it touched with hot soapy water.

Raw milk cheese is made from milk that was never pasteurized. Pasteurization is the heat step that kills E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella before the milk is turned into anything else. Skip that step and the safety of the cheese rides entirely on the health of the herd and the cleanliness of the dairy on the day the milk was drawn. That is the same reason sprouts, fresh produce, and ready-to-eat meats show up on recall lists more often than canned or dry goods. It also explains why this summer's cyclospora outbreak spread through produce that looked perfectly fine.

For a prepared household, a recall is a rotation drill with a deadline. Walk your refrigerator, your freezer, and your food storage shelves with the recall notice in hand, and pull anything you cannot match to a safe lot. If you keep a deeper food stockpile, this is a good week to note which items have a real kill step, like canning or cooking, and which depend on someone else's handling. The science behind food preservation is the same science behind pasteurization, and knowing it helps you judge the fresh end of the store with clear eyes.

Watch for symptoms three to four days after eating the cheese: severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that is often bloody, and vomiting. Call a doctor right away if diarrhea lasts more than three days, if there is a fever over 102 degrees, or if a child is urinating very little, looks pale, or is unusually tired, since those are the early signs of HUS. The investigation is still open and the numbers will move. Check the CDC page before you finish the block of cheese in the back of the fridge, and you can stay prepared rather than scared.