--- title: Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Graziers Raw Milk Cheese E. coli Outbreak Lawsuits date: 2026-09-25T19:29:00-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/sierra-nevada-cheese-company-graziers-raw-milk-cheese-e-coli-outbreak-lawsuits" section: Litigation Landing Pages --- [Foodborne Illnesses](/foodborne-illnesses) / [E. coli](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli) / # Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Graziers Raw Milk Cheese E. coli Outbreak Lawsuits **Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Graziers Raw Milk Cheese *E. coli* Outbreak Lawsuits** - Cases: 13 - Hospitalizations: 8, including 3 with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) - Deaths: 0 - Status: Ongoing. FDA and CDC announced the outbreak on September 25, 2026; all Graziers raw milk cheeses were recalled on September 24, 2026 - Locations: California (3), Nevada (3), and Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and Utah (1 each) - Product: Sierra Nevada Graziers grass-fed raw milk cheese — medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeño jack and Monterey jack — sold nationwide in stores and online - Page updated: September 26, 2026 On September 25, 2026, the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-e-coli-o26h11-raw-milk-cheese-september-2026) and the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/index.html) announced a multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing *E. coli* O26:H11 infections linked to Graziers grass-fed raw milk cheese made by Sierra Nevada Cheese Company of Willows, California. Thirteen people in nine states have been confirmed sick, eight have been hospitalized, and three have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure. More than half of the sick are children age 5 or younger. All four Graziers raw milk varieties have been recalled. Marler Clark, the only law firm in the United States devoted exclusively to foodborne illness litigation, is investigating the outbreak on behalf of victims and their families. **Thirteen people in nine states are sick, and eight have been hospitalized** CDC’s [epidemiologic data](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/investigation.html) as of September 25, 2026: 13 confirmed illnesses, 8 hospitalizations (62 percent of the people with information available), 3 cases of HUS and no deaths. The sick people live in nine states. **State of residence** **Sick people** California 3 Nevada 3 Colorado 1 Georgia 1 Kentucky 1 Michigan 1 Oregon 1 Tennessee 1 Utah 1 **Total** **13** Source: [CDC, Where People Got Sick](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/locations.html). Check: 3 + 3 + 7 × 1 = 13. These are states of residence, not necessarily where the cheese was bought or eaten. The cheese was sold nationwide and online, and CDC says the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. Two of California’s three cases are children under 5 in San Diego County, [according to the county public health department](https://www.countynewscenter.com/raw-milk-cheese-linked-to-e-coli-outbreak/). **More than half of the sick are children age 5 or younger** The sick people range in age from 1 to 58, with a median age of 5; 62 percent are female. Children under 5 are the group most likely to develop HUS after a Shiga toxin-producing *E. coli* infection, and three people in this outbreak already have. CDC’s advice in this outbreak is to choose pasteurized milk and dairy products, and that doing so “is especially important for children under 5.” **All nine people interviewed ate Graziers raw milk cheese** State and local health officials have interviewed nine sick people or their caregivers about what they ate in the week before they got sick. All nine (100 percent) reported eating Sierra Nevada Graziers raw milk cheese. In CDC’s [FoodNet Population Survey](https://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/surveys/population.html), only 4.9 percent of respondents report eating raw milk cheese in a given week; CDC says that difference suggests people in this outbreak got sick from eating the cheese. Whole genome sequencing through [PulseNet](https://www.cdc.gov/pulsenet/index.html)shows the bacteria from the sick people are closely related genetically, which means they share a common source. Sierra Nevada Cheese Company said in a [statement posted to social media](https://abcnews.com/GMA/News/coli-outbreak-linked-raw-milk-cheese-brand-cdc/story?id=136766868) that the illnesses have been associated with its medium cheddar. As of September 26, neither FDA nor CDC has reported a product test result; the link rests on the interviews and the genetic match among the sick people. FDA says its investigation into the source of the contamination, and into whether other products are affected, is ongoing. **Illnesses began July 7 and continued for eight straight weeks before the recall** Illness onsets run from July 7 to August 26, 2026 — six in July and seven in August. Someone got sick in every week of that span. **Week beginning (Monday)** **Illness onsets** July 6 1 July 13 2 July 20 2 July 27 1 August 3 2 August 10 2 August 17 2 August 24 1 **Total** **13** Source: [CDC, When People Got Sick](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/timeline.html) (onset dates July 7, 14, 18, 20, 26 and 29; August 3, 4, 10, 13, 21 (two) and 26). Check: 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 13. Eight consecutive weeks of new illnesses is the pattern of a long-shelf-life product being sold and eaten over a season, not a single bad day of production. CDC says it typically takes three to four weeks to link a sick person to an outbreak, so recent illnesses may not yet be counted, and the true number of sick people is likely much higher than 13. FDA notified Sierra Nevada Cheese Company of the outbreak on September 24, 2026 — more than eleven weeks after the first illness and four weeks after the most recent one — and recommended a recall. The company agreed and initiated the recall the same day. **Every package of all four Graziers raw milk cheeses is recalled, and there are no lot codes to check** The recall covers all Sierra Nevada Graziers grass-fed raw milk cheeses: medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeño jack and Monterey jack, sold at retail in 8-ounce and 16-ounce packages and to food service customers and wholesalers in 5-pound loaves. The company said it is recalling every Graziers raw milk cheese on the market because the investigation has not narrowed to a specific lot or date code. That means there is nothing to check: if it is Graziers raw milk cheese, it is recalled. Two things on the packaging matter. The labels advertise the aging — “Aged at least 60 days” on the medium cheddar, Monterey jack and jalapeño jack, and “Aged over 120 days” on the sharp cheddar — which is the legal minimum for raw milk cheese, not a safety guarantee (see below). And the 5-pound loaves were sold to be cut. Cheese sold in bulk gets cut, re-wrapped and sold under a store’s own label; FDA has told retailers that repackaged it not to sell it. If you bought cut raw milk cheddar or jack from a deli or cheese counter this summer and cannot tell where it came from, treat it as recalled. The cheese has a long shelf life. Check refrigerators and freezers, throw the cheese away or return it for a refund, and wash and sanitize anything it touched. If you refrigerated or froze cheese without its original packaging and cannot identify it, throw it away. **The cheese was aged 60 days, as federal law requires, and people got sick anyway** Raw milk cheese is legal to sell across state lines. FDA’s standards of identity for cheddar (21 CFR 133.113) and Monterey jack (21 CFR 133.153) allow unpasteurized milk if the cheese is cured at not less than 35°F for at least 60 days — a rule adopted in 1949 on the theory that acid, salt and time would kill what pasteurization was not there to kill. FDA has known for a decade that the theory does not hold. Beginning in 2014 it tested 1,606 aged raw milk cheeses because, [in its own words](https://www.fda.gov/food/hfp-constituent-updates/fda-shares-completed-survey-and-data-ongoing-sampling-program), evidence indicated that 60 days of aging may not eliminate or adequately reduce disease-causing bacteria. It found *Salmonella*, *Listeria monocytogenes* and Shiga toxin-producing *E. coli*, each in under one percent of samples, and generic *E. coli*, an indicator of insanitary processing, in 5.4 percent. It then stopped large-scale sampling. The outbreak record since then, all in cheese that met the 60-day rule: **Outbreak** **Organism** **Sick** **Hospitalized** **HUS** [Raw Farm, LLC (Fresno, CA), raw cheddar, Feb. 2024](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-e-coli-o157h7-raw-cheddar-cheese-february-2024) *E. coli* O157:H7 11 (5 states) 5 2 [Twin Sisters Creamery (Ferndale, WA), aged raw milk cheese, Oct. 2025](https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/illness-and-disease-z/foodborne-illness/outbreaks/2025-outbreak-shiga-toxin-producing-e-coli-stec-infections-linked-twin-sisters-creamery-aged-raw) *E. coli* O103 and O26 10 (WA, OR) 1 0 reported [Raw Farm, LLC, raw cheddar and raw milk, Mar. 2026](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/rawcheese-03-26/index.html) *E. coli* O157:H7 9 (3 states) 3 1 [Sierra Nevada Graziers raw milk cheese, Sept. 2026](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/index.html) *E. coli* O26:H11 13 (9 states) 8 3 **Total** **43** **17** **6** Check: 11 + 10 + 9 + 13 = 43 sick; 5 + 1 + 3 + 8 = 17 hospitalized; 2 + 0 + 1 + 3 = 6 with HUS. Sources: FDA (2024), Washington State Department of Health (2025), CDC (2026, both). In the Twin Sisters outbreak the state health department noted the cheese “is aged at least 60 days, as required by law,” and the same O26 serogroup that is sickening people now was found in that cheese. Over half of the sick in the March 2026 Raw Farm outbreak were children under 5, as they are here. Bill Marler has been working on a citizen petition to FDA under 21 CFR 10.30 that asks for two things: a prescribed warning statement on cheese made from unpasteurized milk, added to 21 CFR 101.17 — the regulation that has required a warning on unpasteurized juice since 1998 — and completion of the reevaluation of the 60-day rule that FDA announced in 2013 and has never finished. **Sierra Nevada Cheese Company recalled a raw goat milk cheddar for Listeria in 2025** Sierra Nevada Cheese Company was founded in 1997 and has made cheese in Willows, in Glenn County, California, since 2003. On August 27, 2025, California’s State Veterinarian [ordered a statewide recall and quarantine](https://pressreleases.cdfa.ca.gov/Home/PressRelease/66054324) of the company’s Bella Capra raw goat milk cheddar (lot 90423255, sell-by date 5/29/26) after California Department of Food and Agriculture testing found *Listeria monocytogenes* in the cheese. A pathogen in a legally aged raw milk cheese, thirteen months before this outbreak, is part of what Marler Clark is examining. **You may have a claim if you got sick after eating Graziers raw milk cheese** Food is a product. In California, where the cheese was made, and in most states, a company that sells contaminated food is liable for the injuries it causes under strict product liability, without proof that it was careless. Retailers and distributors in the chain of sale can also be liable. The two questions that decide most outbreak cases are what you ate — here, Graziers raw milk cheese in the week before you got sick — and whether the *E. coli* isolated from your stool sample is genetically linked to the outbreak strain through PulseNet. Claims typically cover medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. HUS cases are different: children who survive HUS can be left with kidney damage, high blood pressure or neurological injury and need lifelong monitoring, and a claim has to account for that future. Claims for children are brought by a parent or guardian, and settlements for minors are generally subject to court approval. Filing deadlines (statutes of limitation) vary by state and by the type of injury, and they can run quickly; claims for children and claims against public entities have their own rules. Consultations are free, and Marler Clark handles foodborne illness cases on a contingent fee, with no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery. **Preserve the evidence: the package, the receipt and your isolate** If you or your child was diagnosed with an *E. coli* infection after eating Graziers raw milk cheese, keep the cheese package, or a photo of it, and the receipt or online order confirmation. Write down where and when you bought it and what you ate in the week before you got sick. Most important: ask the hospital laboratory or your state health department to preserve the bacterial isolate from your stool sample. Whole genome sequencing of that isolate is what connects one person’s illness to the outbreak strain, and laboratories routinely discard isolates. Keep your medical records, including any HUS diagnosis, dialysis or transfusion records. **What Marler Clark is examining** - The source of the contamination: the raw milk supply, whether from the company’s own herd or from other dairies, and the pathogen testing done on that milk. - Why the investigation could not narrow the illnesses to a lot or date code, and what the company’s production, aging and traceability records show. - The company’s testing program for finished raw milk cheese, and whether any product tested positive for *E. coli*O26:H11. - The company’s inspection and recall history, including the August 2025 *Listeria monocytogenes* recall and quarantine of its raw goat milk cheddar. - Where the 5-pound loaves went, which retailers cut and repackaged them, and under what labels. - Whether the recalled cheese remains in commerce, given its long shelf life and online sales. **Marler Clark’s *E. coli* and raw milk record** *E. coli* O157:H7 is the pathogen that built this firm. In its worst form it produces a Shiga toxin that shuts down the kidneys — [hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)](https://about-hus.com/) — and its victims are too often children. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading firm for [*E. coli*](https://about-ecoli.com/) and HUS cases. Our [*E. coli* lawyers](https://marlerclark.com/food-litigation/e-coli-o157h7-outbreak-litigation) have stood beside thousands of families in the only U.S. law practice devoted exclusively to foodborne illness, which has recovered more than $850 million for victims and families nationwide. We have traced *E. coli* to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and much more, and we have brought cases against Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s. Among those we have been honored to represent are Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith, and Linda Rivera. Our advocacy has reached beyond the courtroom as well: we helped push the federal government to declare *E. coli* O157:H7 — and later six additional Shiga toxin–producing strains, including the O26 in this outbreak — adulterants in ground beef, and we have funded independent research into the pathogen to push the science forward. Raw milk and raw milk cheese are a particular focus. Bill Marler maintains [Real Raw Milk Facts](https://www.realrawmilkfacts.com/), and the firm has represented victims of raw milk and raw milk cheese outbreaks, including a claimant in the 2025 Twin Sisters Creamery aged raw milk cheese *E. coli* outbreak in Washington and Oregon. **Frequently asked questions** **What is *E. coli*?** *E. coli* O157:H7 is the best-known Shiga toxin–producing strain of *Escherichia coli*, and it causes severe, sometimes life-threatening food poisoning. *E. coli* O26:H11, the strain in this outbreak, is one of six other Shiga toxin–producing serogroups (O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145) that cause the same illness and that federal regulators also treat as adulterants in ground beef. Most people develop painful stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea three to four days after exposure, and about 5 to 10 percent of victims — often young children — go on to develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of acute kidney failure. **What foods cause *E. coli* outbreaks?** Ground beef, raw milk and raw milk cheese, leafy greens such as romaine and spinach, sprouts, unpasteurized juice, and raw flour have all been linked to Shiga toxin–producing *E. coli*. Any food contaminated with even a trace of cattle feces can carry it. **What is HUS, and is it permanent?** Hemolytic uremic syndrome is the most common cause of acute kidney failure in young children. Many children recover, but some are left with lasting kidney damage, high blood pressure, or neurological injury and need lifelong monitoring. **Which Sierra Nevada cheeses are recalled?** All Sierra Nevada Graziers grass-fed raw milk cheeses: medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeño jack and Monterey jack, in 8-ounce and 16-ounce retail packages and 5-pound food service loaves. No lot or date code is excluded. The company’s pasteurized cheeses are not part of the recall as of September 26, 2026. **How do I know if my *E. coli* infection is part of this outbreak?** If you ate Graziers raw milk cheese in the week before you got sick and a stool culture confirmed a Shiga toxin–producing *E. coli* infection, your state health department will interview you and send the bacterial isolate for whole genome sequencing. A match to the outbreak strain, *E. coli* O26:H11, places you in the outbreak. Ask your doctor whether a culture was done and ask the health department about the sequencing result. **Can I sue if I got *E. coli* from food?** If a contaminated food caused your infection, you may have a product-liability claim against the manufacturer, grower, or restaurant. The key questions are what you ate and whether your illness is genetically linked to a known outbreak strain. **How long do I have to file an *E. coli* lawsuit?** Filing deadlines (statutes of limitation) vary by state and by the type of injury, and they can run quickly. A free case evaluation is the fastest way to learn where you stand. **Contact the Marler Clark *E. coli* attorneys** If you or a family member developed an *E. coli* infection or HUS after eating Sierra Nevada Graziers raw milk cheese and you want to understand your legal options, contact the Marler Clark *E. coli* attorneys for a free case evaluation: call 1-800-884-9840, use the [contact form](https://marlerclark.com/contact), or email bmarler@marlerclark.com. **Resources** - [FDA: Outbreak Investigation of *E. coli* O26:H11: Raw Milk Cheese (September 2026)](https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-e-coli-o26h11-raw-milk-cheese-september-2026) - [CDC: *E. coli* Outbreak Linked to Raw Milk Cheese](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/outbreaks/raw-milk-cheese-09-26/index.html) - [CDC: Hemolytic uremic syndrome](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/signs-symptoms/hus.html) ### E. coli news and updates November 08, 2022 ###### [16 days hospitalized: Summer E. 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