As of October 21, 2026, 13 people in nine states are sick with E. coli O26:H11 traced to Graziers raw milk cheese made by Sierra Nevada Cheese Company of Willows, California; 8 are hospitalized, 3 children have hemolytic uremic syndrome, and no one has died. The company recalled all Graziers raw milk cheese, nationwide, on September 24. FDA’s Enforcement Report, the agency’s official recall ledger, carried one entry for that recall as of its October 14 data: 40-pound blocks of sharp cheddar, 1,373 pounds, thirteen states, “Not Yet Classified.” Newsweek reported Tuesday that FDA designated the recall Class I on Monday, October 19. I could not find that classification on any FDA page this morning; the agency’s data feed has not refreshed since October 14.
The company’s notice covers ten products and names no lot code. The enforcement record covers one product and names thirteen.
The recall notice FDA posted on September 29 lists ten Graziers raw milk products, from 8-ounce retail squares to 40-pound cheddar blocks, gives no lot codes because “the investigation has not been narrowed to a specific lot, date code, or production date,” and says the cheese was “distributed nationwide.”
The Enforcement Report entry, event 99986, is narrower. One product: “SIERRA NEVADA CHEESE GRAZIERS RAW MILK SHARP CHEDDAR NET WT. 40 LBS Item 6516.” Quantity: “1,373 lbs (40 lbs/unit),” about 34 blocks. Thirteen lot codes, the first anyone has published in this recall: 00116265, 00310265, 00317261, 00512264, 00923252, 00926251, 01002251, 01010252, 01021251, 01031254, 01107253, 01205254 and 01230254. Distribution: “Domestic: AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, NJ, OR, TX, WA, WI. Foreign: Not applicable.” Recall initiated September 24; first reported October 14; status ongoing; classification pending. The other nine products, including every retail package a family would have bought at a grocery store, have no entry yet. The ledger fills in product by product; that is a problem when the recall is three weeks old, the cheese keeps for months, and most of the sick are children five and under.
| What | Company notice (Sept. 29) | Enforcement Report (Oct. 14 data) |
| Products | 10 (four 8-oz squares, 16-oz brick, four 5-lb loaves, 40-lb blocks) | 1 (40-lb sharp cheddar, Item 6516) |
| Quantity | Not stated | 1,373 lb |
| Lot codes | None | 13 |
| States | “Nationwide” | 13, including Washington |
| Classification | Not stated | Not Yet Classified (Class I on Oct. 19 per Newsweek) |
Sources: FDA recall notice (content current as of Sept. 29, 2026); openFDA Enforcement Report feed, event 99986 (last updated Oct. 14, 2026); Newsweek (Oct. 20, 2026). Check: 1,373 lb divided by 40 lb per block is 34.3 blocks.
| Date (2026) | What happened | Days since recall |
| Sept. 24 | FDA contacts Sierra Nevada Cheese; company agrees to recall all Graziers raw milk cheese the same day | 0 |
| Sept. 25 | FDA and CDC post the outbreak: 13 sick, 9 states, 8 hospitalized, 3 HUS | 1 |
| Sept. 29 | Company recall notice posted on fda.gov: ten products, nationwide, no lot codes | 5 |
| Oct. 9 | FDA advisory re-stamped; adds that recalled cheese went to the Republic of Korea | 15 |
| Oct. 14 | First Enforcement Report entry: one product, 1,373 lb, 13 states, 13 lots, Not Yet Classified | 20 |
| Oct. 19 | Class I classification, per Newsweek (Oct. 20); not yet visible on an FDA page | 25 |
| Oct. 21 | Today: counts unchanged since Sept. 25; recall notice unchanged since Sept. 29 | 27 |
Sources: FDA outbreak advisory (content current as of Oct. 9, 2026), FDA recall notice (Sept. 29), openFDA Enforcement Report feed (last updated Oct. 14), Newsweek (Oct. 20). Check: September 24 to September 30 is 6 days; 6 + 14 = 20 (Oct. 14), 6 + 19 = 25 (Oct. 19), 6 + 21 = 27 (Oct. 21).
The one product on the record is not the product linked to the illnesses.
FDA’s outbreak advisory says the illnesses are epidemiologically linked to Graziers Raw Milk Medium Cheddar; all nine people interviewed ate the cheese the week before they got sick. The product FDA has documented is the 40-pound sharp cheddar block, a food-service item sliced behind a deli counter or cubed on a catering tray. The medium cheddar in the 8-ounce square and the 16-ounce brick, the product the company itself ties to the illnesses, has no distribution record, no lot list and no quantity on the public ledger.
The distribution list leaves out five of the nine states where people got sick.
Set CDC’s state list next to the enforcement record’s and the gaps are plain. Five outbreak states, including Nevada with three cases, appear on no public distribution record at all; nine distribution states, Washington among them, have reported no case.
| Group | States | Count |
| States with sick people (CDC, Sept. 25) | CA, CO, GA, KY, MI, NV, OR, TN, UT | 9 |
| States that received 40-lb sharp cheddar (Enforcement Report) | AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, NJ, OR, TX, WA, WI | 13 |
| On both lists | CA, CO, GA, OR | 4 |
| Outbreak states not on the distribution list | KY, MI, NV, TN, UT | 5 |
| Distribution states with no reported case | AZ, FL, IL, IN, MD, NJ, TX, WA, WI | 9 |
Sources: CDC raw-milk-cheese-09-26 (Sept. 25, 2026); openFDA event 99986 (data of Oct. 14, 2026). Check: 4 + 5 = 9 outbreak states; 4 + 9 = 13 distribution states.
The record is not wrong; it is for one product, and the cheese that made people sick traveled by routes no public document has mapped. A parent in Nevada asking “was this sold near me” has nothing from FDA to answer the question. A parent in Washington does, at least for the blocks.
The record says no foreign distribution. FDA’s own advisory says Korea.
On October 9 FDA re-stamped its advisory to add that recalled Graziers cheeses “were distributed to the Republic of Korea.” Five days later the Enforcement Report entry read “Foreign: Not applicable.” Both can be true if Korea got a different product; neither page says so.
Twenty days to a first entry and twenty-five to a classification is slower than the cheese moves.
Under 21 C.F.R. 7.3(m), Class I means “a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.” Three children with HUS from a cheese FDA linked to the illnesses on September 25 is the textbook case. FDA’s own explanation of the Enforcement Reportsays a recall sits as Not Yet Classified while the agency “has not completed its assessment of the hazard.” The hazard here was assessed in public, with an advisory and a CDC notice, on day one. The ledger caught up on day twenty and, if Newsweek has it right, the classification on day twenty-five, while an aged cheese with a shelf life measured in months sat in refrigerators in at least thirteen states with no lot code on the package to check. The fault is not with the recall coordinators who enter these records. It is an architecture in which the outbreak page, the recall notice and the Enforcement Report are three documents on three clocks, and no one is assigned to make them agree.
A warning label would have been on the package in every one of those states.
I wrote when this outbreak was announced that thirteen is a floor, not a count, and that the same plant had a statewide Listeria recall and quarantine of its Bella Capra raw goat cheddar in August 2025. The American Academy of Pediatrics says raw milk and raw milk cheese should not be sold at all. I am asking for less: a warning label on raw milk cheese, the kind raw oysters have carried for decades, so the parent in Nevada does not need an Enforcement Report entry to know the risk was on the shelf. My firm represents the family of one of the children with HUS in this outbreak. I have been doing this since the Jack in the Box outbreak in 1993, and the record lagging the product is the part that has changed least.
E. coli O26 symptoms start three to four days after eating and can turn into HUS.
E. coli O26 is a Shiga toxin-producing strain like the better-known O157:H7. Symptoms usually begin three to four days after eating contaminated food, though the range runs from one to ten days: severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that is often bloody, sometimes vomiting and a low fever. CDC says to call a doctor for diarrhea lasting more than two days, bloody stool, a fever above 102°F, or signs of dehydration. About 5 to 10 percent of people diagnosed with a STEC infection develop HUS, usually about a week after diarrhea begins, and young children are at the highest risk. HUS is a medical emergency. Its warning signs are little or no urination, losing pink color in the cheeks and inside the lower eyelids, unexplained bruising or a rash of tiny red spots, unusual tiredness or irritability. Antibiotics are not recommended for STEC infections and may raise the risk of HUS; a doctor should decide.
What to do if you have Graziers raw milk cheese
Do not eat it, whatever the lot code, size or variety; the recall covers every Graziers raw milk cheese, medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeño jack and Monterey jack, in every size, and the company has not narrowed it. Throw it away or return it, and wash anything it touched with hot soapy water; CDC notes these cheeses “have a long shelf life,” so a block bought in August can still be in a refrigerator today. In the thirteen distribution states, ask your deli or caterer whether they received Graziers cheddar in blocks or loaves. If you or your child ate Graziers cheese and had bloody diarrhea, see a doctor, ask for a stool test for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and mention the cheese so the case is reported. Earlier coverage is in my September 25 post, on Food Poison Journal and on the E. coli Blog.
Is Graziers raw milk cheese still being recalled?
Yes. As of October 21, 2026, the September 24 recall of every Sierra Nevada Cheese Company Graziers raw milk cheese remains in effect with no lot or date limit; FDA’s Enforcement Report lists it as ongoing.
What are the lot codes for the Graziers cheese recall?
FDA has published lot codes only for the 40-pound sharp cheddar blocks: 00116265, 00310265, 00317261, 00512264, 00923252, 00926251, 01002251, 01010252, 01021251, 01031254, 01107253, 01205254 and 01230254. Every Graziers raw milk cheese is recalled regardless of lot code, so do not keep any of it.
How many people are sick from Graziers raw milk cheese?
CDC’s last update, September 25, 2026, counts 13 sick in nine states, 8 hospitalized, 3 with hemolytic uremic syndrome and no deaths; more than half are children five and younger.
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