Federal enforcement against America’s largest raw-milk dairy withdrawn amid regulatory shift
The Justice Department dropped its case in January 2025, coinciding with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health Secretary, while the farm’s owner disputes scientific consensus on the risks of unpasteurised milk.
A ProPublica investigation has documented the withdrawal of federal legal action against Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the United States, following a shift in enforcement priorities under the Trump administration. The Justice Department ceased efforts to pursue the farm in January 2025, a move that aligns with the new direction taken by the Department of Health and Human Services under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The farm’s owner, Mark McAfee, has long advocated for unpasteurised milk, countering the scientific consensus that pasteurisation is necessary to eliminate harmful bacteria.
Federal and state regulators have linked Raw Farm to more than 200 illnesses and numerous recalls since 2006. These incidents include a 2023–2024 salmonella outbreak affecting over 170 people and a recent E. coli outbreak involving nine individuals, more than half of whom were under the age of five. Despite these health events, McAfee has maintained that the government lacks definitive proof linking his products directly to the outbreaks, arguing that regulatory tracking methods are not conclusive evidence of causation.
The legal case against the farm faced significant delays due to a backlog in the courts, pushing the proceedings well into 2025. During this period, the Food and Drug Administration identified that the farm had a “standard practice” of producing cheese from milk suspected or known to contain pathogens. Federal documents indicate that regulators had ordered the farm to cease this practice and destroy affected cheese, but the farm contested these orders, asserting that its aging processes and testing protocols ensured safety.
McAfee has contradicted earlier admissions regarding these practices, stating in recent interviews that the farm no longer diverts problematic milk to cheesemaking. This assertion conflicts with previous disclosures and federal findings that such practices were standard until at least 2024. When questioned about the discrepancy, McAfee acknowledged a potential issue between his past statements and current operations but insisted that the farm now uses only safe milk for production.
The withdrawal of enforcement action has coincided with a surge in sales for Raw Farm, which McAfee reports are at their highest levels. The farm issued a recall for cheese linked to the recent E. coli outbreak “under protest,” claiming that its own testing found no pathogens. Major retail chains carrying the product, including Sprouts and H-E-B, did not respond to inquiries regarding the outbreak or the regulatory changes. The FDA closed its investigation into the E. coli incident without taking further enforcement action.
