Raw milk sales have surged to over 10 million consumers nationwide, driven by growing demand and shifting federal health priorities under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., even as public health regulators link unpasteurized dairy products to hundreds of illnesses over the past two decades. According to ProPublica, national weekly sales rose by 65% between 2023 and 2024, thrusting a product once consumed primarily by fringe groups into the agricultural mainstream.
The Rise of Raw Milk and Consumer Demand
More than 10 million Americans now consume raw milk, a product that has not undergone pasteurization—the simple heating process designed to kill harmful bacteria. Mark McAfee, who operates Raw Farm as America’s largest raw-milk dairy, told ProPublica that his business generates roughly $30 million annually. McAfee has advocated for raw dairy for over twenty years and counts Kennedy as a customer.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state that raw milk offers no proven nutritional benefits over pasteurized milk. Furthermore, federal health agencies warn that unpasteurized dairy carries a risk of foodborne illness over 100 times higher than pasteurized alternatives.
Outbreaks, Recalls, and Regulatory Scrutiny
Federal and state regulators have connected McAfee’s farm to at least 233 illnesses and at least 40 hospitalizations across eight separate outbreaks since 2006, according to public health records cited by ProPublica. In 2006, an E. coli outbreak sickened six people, including 7-year-old Chris Martin, who suffered permanent kidney damage from a dangerous strain known as O157:H7. Mary McGonigle-Martin, the child’s mother, noted that her son now faces a lifetime of medical management for an elevated risk of chronic kidney disease.
Additional outbreaks and product recalls followed in 2007, 2011, 2012, and 2016. Between 2023 and 2024, regulators linked Raw Farm to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 170 people. McAfee disputed his farm’s direct connection to many of these outbreaks, maintaining that regulator tracking methods do not provide definitive proof.
Shifting Enforcement and Federal Policy
Federal oversight of raw milk producers shifted following the transition of the Trump administration and the appointment of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Current and former government workers told ProPublica that routine science had become politicized within federal health agencies, creating a climate of fear among civil servants.
In 2024, the FDA discovered that Raw Farm had a standard practice of using milk suspected or known to contain pathogens to manufacture cheese, according to court documents reviewed by ProPublica. The agency ordered the farm to stop the practice and destroy contaminated cheese. While the farm argued it followed regulations by aging and testing its products, the government pursued legal action to enforce the order.
However, court delays pushed the case into 2025. By January 2025, the federal government dropped its enforcement efforts against the farm. A former federal employee familiar with the lawsuit told ProPublica that raw-milk cases were deprioritized under the new administration due to Kennedy’s publicly stated support for unpasteurized dairy.
Recent E. Coli Outbreaks and Ongoing Concerns
Weeks after a visit by reporters to Raw Farm, federal regulators publicly linked its cheese products to an E. coli outbreak that infected nine people across three states, more than half of whom were younger than 5. Raw Farm issued a recall 18 days later under protest, maintaining that its internal testing showed no pathogens.
On April 30, the FDA closed its investigation into the E. coli outbreak without taking enforcement action, allowing raw-cheese products to return to store shelves. Major retail chains carrying the products, including Sprouts and H-E-B, did not respond to media inquiries regarding the outbreak.
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