At least seven people in three states, including young children, have been sickened by E. coli food poisoning linked to cheddar cheese made from raw milk, federal health officials said Monday.

California-based Raw Farm made the cheese that is the “likely source” of the outbreak, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though no Raw Farm products have tested positive for E. coli during the outbreak period, the FDA noted.

Illnesses were reported between September 2025 and mid-February, the agency said. Five cases were reported in California and one each in Florida and Texas. More than half of the illnesses were in children aged 3 or younger. Two people were hospitalized.

The FDA recommended that Raw Farm voluntarily remove its raw cheese products from sale, but the company has declined.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged consumers to “consider not eating” the products.

Mark McAfee, owner of Raw Farm, said he refused to recall the products because investigators have not definitively linked them to any illnesses.

The FDA said interviews with three people who got sick found that all three reported eating Raw Farm brand raw milk cheddar cheese.