A California creamery is racing to pull every wheel of its raw milk cheddar and jack cheese off shelves nationwide after federal health investigators linked the products to an E. coli outbreak that has already put three young children into kidney failure.

Sierra Nevada Cheese Company of Willows, California, recalled all of its Graziers-brand grass-fed raw milk cheeses — sharp cheddar, medium cheddar, jalapeño jack and Monterey jack — on September 24 after the FDA traced a multistate cluster of E. coli O26:H11 infections back to the product. The company said it pulled every variety and lot "out of an abundance of caution," since investigators have not yet narrowed the contamination to a specific batch or date code.

The numbers

Thirteen people across nine states — California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and Utah — have been sickened so far, according to the CDC. Eight were hospitalized, and three developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening complication that can shut down the kidneys. No deaths have been reported. The median age of those sickened is just 5 years old, and more than 60% of cases involve children age 5 or younger, though patients range from 1 to 58. The most recent illness onset recorded is August 26.

The recalled cheese was sold in 8-ounce and 16-ounce retail blocks as well as 5-pound wholesale loaves and shipped to stores across the country, not just the nine states with confirmed cases. Of nine sickened patients interviewed by investigators, every one reported eating the recalled cheese beforehand.

"CHOOSING PASTEURIZED MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 5."

It's the second recall in just over a year for Sierra Nevada Cheese Company, which pulled its Bella Capra raw goat cheddar in August 2025 over Listeria contamination. Food-safety attorneys tracking the case note it also fits a broader pattern: since 2024, four separate outbreaks have been traced to raw milk cheeses that fully complied with the FDA's 60-day aging rule, a standard set in 1949 that critics say has never been updated to reflect modern pathogen risks. Those four outbreaks combined have sickened at least 43 people, hospitalized 17 and caused six or more HUS cases.

The FDA and CDC say the joint investigation is ongoing and could expand if more illnesses are reported. Federal health officials are urging anyone with the recalled Graziers cheese in their fridge to throw it away or return it for a refund rather than eat it — and to scrub down any counters, cutting boards or containers the cheese touched, since E. coli can survive on surfaces.

Symptoms of E. coli O26 infection typically appear within a few days of exposure and include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that can turn bloody, and vomiting. Parents of young children are being told to watch closely for those signs and seek medical care immediately if a child shows decreased urination, extreme fatigue or unusual paleness — red flags for the kidney complications driving this outbreak.