TL;DR: Federal and state regulators link California's Raw Farm and founder Mark McAfee to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that sickened hundreds, even as raw-milk sales surge nationwide.

On June 9, 2026, ProPublica published an investigation by reporter Annie Waldman into Mark McAfee, the 64-year-old chief executive and founder of Raw Farm in California's Central Valley. According to ProPublica, McAfee operates the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, with about $30 million a year in revenue, and federal and state regulators have linked his business to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that left hundreds of people ill.

The investigation lands during a rapid expansion of unpasteurized dairy. According to ProPublica, more than 10 million Americans now drink raw milk, and national weekly sales rose by 65% from 2023 to 2024 alone. Customers interviewed for that reporting said they want food that has not been stripped of health benefits by industrial processing.

Public-health agencies continue to describe a different risk calculation. According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, raw, unpasteurized dairy products can contain bacteria that make people sick, particularly young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised. The department states that pasteurization kills nearly all the germs that can exist in raw milk while maintaining nutritional benefits.

What McAfee claims raw milk can do

McAfee promotes his product in messages and presentations as delicious, mood-supporting, and therapeutic, according to ProPublica. The investigation describes PowerPoints and emails in which he linked raw milk to the gut-brain serotonin and dopamine cycle, called it great for asthma, and said it literally saves lives.

His farm, located 20 miles southwest of Fresno and run with his adult son and daughter, markets dairy as safe and healthy for children, adults, and grandparents because each batch is screened for bacteria, according to ProPublica.

McAfee acknowledged illness linked to his products before a February farm visit described in the investigation. According to ProPublica, he said:

"I've put a couple kids in the hospital, and they have been sick, but they recovered."

In the same discussion, he described himself as a pioneer working against conventional advice, according to ProPublica.

What 150 years of dairy science says

By definition, raw milk has not been pasteurized, the heating process used to kill harmful bacteria, according to ProPublica. Before pasteurization was widely adopted a century ago, thousands of babies died each year from illnesses linked to contaminated dairy, the investigation reports.

Most scientists and health experts now agree that raw milk has no significant, proven nutritional benefits over pasteurized milk, cannot treat or cure disease, and carries over 100 times the risk of foodborne illness, according to ProPublica. The risk is described as especially dangerous for young children.

Food Safety News, reporting on a separate 2026 outbreak, described pasteurization as heating milk to 161 degrees F for 15 seconds, a step that destroys Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter. That outlet also cited research from the University of Delaware finding that, compared with consumers of pasteurized dairy, people who drink raw milk are 840 times more likely to experience illness and 45 times more likely to be hospitalized.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare gives the same practical distinction: unpasteurized products can carry illness-causing bacteria, while pasteurization removes nearly all of those germs without removing nutritional benefits.

A pathogen lab, and milk diverted to cheese

A central part of McAfee's safety argument is testing. According to ProPublica, Raw Farm screens each batch for four types of bacteria: Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, and Listeria. Those organisms live in cattle intestines and can reach milk through microscopic flecks of infected feces. In people, they can cause vomiting and diarrhea, along with sepsis, kidney failure, and death.

McAfee told ProPublica that the farm catches contamination and diverts the milk immediately. During the reported visit to a cream-colored bungalow he calls his pathogen laboratory, where two workers in lab coats prepared samples, he described a red-flag system for abnormal results.

That diverted milk is not necessarily discarded. According to ProPublica, McAfee said flagged milk does not go to anything but cheese, adding his view that cheese is resistant to pathogens.

Research does not support that view of safety, according to ProPublica. Aging can reduce some risk, but harmful bacteria can still survive the usual 60-day maturation process. McAfee confirmed to ProPublica that milk containing pathogens was used to make cheese, with an exception for batches containing Salmonella, which he said were dumped or sent out for pasteurization.

For consumers focused on nutrition and healthy living, the distinction matters because cheese made from contaminated milk can still carry live pathogens into the kitchen. The current concern is not only fluid milk in glass bottles, but other unpasteurized dairy foods made when screening finds a problem.

More than a dozen recalls and outbreaks

Regulators have repeatedly connected Raw Farm products to illness. According to ProPublica, federal and state regulators linked the business to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that sickened hundreds.

Those events included regular outbreaks of Salmonella and E. coli, and the discovery of bird flu in Raw Farm milk, according to ProPublica. The investigation also notes two decades of disputes with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice, which repeatedly accused McAfee of breaking federal laws and regulations.

A Rutgers University summary of recent Associated Press reporting, published June 9, 2026, described a current outbreak tied to raw-milk cheddar cheese from California-based Raw Farm that sickened nine people with E. coli. Half were children younger than 5, and one person developed a serious complication that can impair kidney function for life. That summary described the event as one of at least five raw-milk outbreaks in the past year.

That pattern helps explain why pediatric risk draws particular attention. According to ProPublica, scientists warn that foodborne illness from raw milk can be especially dangerous for young children. Idaho health officials list young children, pregnant women, older adults, and immunocompromised people as groups facing higher risk from bacteria in unpasteurized dairy, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Why enforcement has not stopped sales

McAfee has avoided serious sanctions despite repeated allegations, according to ProPublica. The outlet reports that the Biden administration was nearing a crackdown on his farm when President Donald Trump took office and placed leadership of federal health agencies under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy had campaigned for president the prior year on criticism of government suppression of raw milk, according to ProPublica. In his federal role, he said he was advocating for raw milk and marked the release of a federal Make America Healthy Again report with raw-milk shooters at the White House.

A Rutgers University summary similarly notes that Kennedy consumed raw-milk shots at the White House last May and had earlier promised to halt aggressive suppression of the product. The political shift, combined with wellness culture and distrust of health institutions linked to pharmaceutical and food companies, has helped move raw milk from a fringe product to a symbol of freedom and defiance for supporters, according to ProPublica.

McAfee frames the scrutiny as resistance to innovation rather than evidence of unavoidable hazard. According to ProPublica, he told Waldman that observers view the operation as a fringe trend, while he considers the work serious and pointed to daily practices on the farm as proof.

Idaho reports nearly 60 illnesses in two weeks

A separate outbreak in early June underlines how quickly illness can spread beyond one brand. On June 3, 2026, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced investigations into two outbreaks likely associated with raw milk.

Since May 19, 2026, nearly 60 people were identified as becoming ill after consuming raw milk, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. At least 45 tested positive for campylobacteriosis, although not everyone who became sick was tested. Officials said investigation and interviews were continuing and additional illnesses could be identified.

Most patients reported drinking raw milk from two different milking operations, one in northern Idaho and one in southern Idaho, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The agency did not name the operations. It said both were working with state and local agencies to identify batches of concern, test milk samples, and address potential sources of contamination.

Food Safety News reported the same totals on June 3, 2026, noting that all 60 patients had consumed raw milk before becoming sick. The state investigation involved the Division of Public Health and six regional districts: Panhandle District Health, Southwest District Health, Central District Health, Southeastern Idaho Public Health, South Central Public Health, and Eastern Idaho Public Health.

Campylobacter infection usually begins two to five days after exposure and lasts about one week, although some people develop longer complications, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Common symptoms include diarrhea, sometimes bloody, plus fever, stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Anyone with symptoms after consuming raw milk or raw-milk products is encouraged to seek medical care promptly and contact a local public-health district.

A wider push to expand access

Even as investigators trace illnesses, access is expanding. A Rutgers University summary of Associated Press findings reports more than three dozen bills supporting raw milk introduced in statehouses nationwide. A growing number of states now allow sales, farmers report difficulty keeping the product in stock, and prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon.

Social-media discussion has increased, often featuring unproven health claims, while senior officials and online influencers help drive demand, according to that Rutgers summary. Federal health agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that those benefit claims lack strong scientific support.

For shoppers, the practical guidance from regulators remains consistent: choose pasteurized milk and dairy foods, keep cold foods cold, and seek care for persistent vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, or dehydration after consuming unpasteurized products. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare especially urges caution for households with young children, pregnant women, older adults, or anyone with a weakened immune system.

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