5 Raw Quotes From America’s Largest Raw Milk Owner

I never thought I would spend six months of my life investigating raw milk. But I did it.

In early June, ProPublica published a story I reported that features Mark McAfeewhich runs America’s largest raw milk dairy. The story came after months of reporting on how the Trump administration policies reshaping federal health agencies. My colleagues and I spoke with dozens of officials, many of whom described a climate of fear in which routine science had suddenly become politicized.

One notable example they shared with me was raw milk, which most scientists and health experts agree has no beneficial effects. significant and proven nutritional benefits compared to its pasteurized counterpart and subjects its consumers to more 100 times greater risk of foodborne illness.

But under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., current and former officials told me, the federal approach to raw milk was evolving to align with his priorities. In his new role, Kennedy said he was “advocating“for this and famous the release of a federal report titled Make America Healthy Again with a toast to raw milk pumpers at the White House.

McAfee, which counts Kennedy as a client, has advocated for raw dairy products for more than two decades. But it’s only in recent years that raw milk, which once attracted a fringe crowd, has been brought into the mainstream. More than 10 million Americans now drink it; national weekly sales increased by 65% ​​between 2023 and 2024 alone.

McAfee’s farm brings in about $30 million a year. It’s also come under scrutiny: Federal and state regulators have linked his company to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of people.

The success of raw milk had baffled me: how could it have become so established in this country, despite regular epidemics of salmonella and E. coli?

Speaking with McAfee seemed like a good place to start. The story I told guides you through my long visit to his farmand I encourage you to read it. Below, I’ll take you through some of the highlights of my conversations and interactions with McAfee and contextualize them with my reports.

If you trust 150 years of basic science, there is no reason to consume raw milk. By definition, it has not been pasteurized, the simple process of heating milk to kill harmful bacteria. Before the practice became widely adopted a century ago, thousands of babies died each year from illnesses linked to contaminated dairy products.

Today, most scientists and health experts agree that raw milk has no significant and proven nutritional benefits on its sanitized counterpart, cannot treat or cure the diseaseand subjects its consumers to more than 100 times greater risk of foodborne illnesswhich can be particularly dangerous for young children. Despite rigorous hygiene efforts, contamination with deadly bacteria remains an inherent and unavoidable risk in unpasteurized dairy products.

Comprehensive reviews of published science on raw milk have been largely unable to substantiate claims regarding its benefits, and most experts agree that it is neither healthy nor safe to consume. But McAfee says its customers are better informed. For him, the stories of families who believe raw milk transformed their health are their own proof, revealing truths that institutions have failed to grasp. “If raw milk was a fad or a lie, then why would people repeatedly buy raw milk and then tell the world how much they love it,” he said. “Our consumers read their instincts and watch their children flourish.”

He also said the government had not invested enough in research to assess the benefits.

In 2006, six people contracted E. coli in the first outbreak linked to the McAfee farm, according to federal regulators; their median age was 8 years. Although the specific strain of E. coli from the outbreak was not found in the products, some samples taken by investigators showed high numbers of bacteria, indicating contamination.

One of the children involved was 7-year-old Chris Martin. After about a month of drinking raw milk, he became seriously ill with a dangerous strain of E. coli, known as O157:H7. Chris suffered permanent kidney damage. Now 27, he can no longer drink alcohol and will spend the rest of his life under the care of a nephrologist due to his high risk of chronic kidney disease.

McAfee said the 2006 outbreak opened its eyes to the risks of its product and was part of the reason it developed standards for unpasteurized dairies. But greater awareness and better practices haven’t stopped McAfee customers from continuing to get sick. 2007, 2011, 2012 And 2016 — and the farm has had to issue recalls more than half a dozen times after pathogens were discovered in its products.

And then between 2023 and 2024, regulators linked the farm to one of the largest raw dairy outbreaks known to the public In decades, more than 170 people have fallen ill with salmonella. McAfee has disputed the link between his farm and many outbreaks, including this one. He argued that regulators’ disease tracking practices did not constitute compelling evidence that his farm directly caused the outbreaks.

At least 233 people have been sickened in eight outbreaks that federal and state regulators have linked to the McAfee farm since 2006, and at least 40 of them have been hospitalized. The tally is almost certainly underestimated, experts and regulators told me. Many recover from foodborne illness at home and do not seek testing.

The research has watch that raw cheese is actually not resistant to pathogens; Although aging may mitigate some risks, harmful bacteria can still survive the usual 60-day maturation process.

So when McAfee told me about his cheesemaking practice, it surprised me: What did the farm do with this milk? I asked him again.

McAfee confirmed that milk containing pathogens was used to make cheese, with the exception of batches containing salmonella, which he said were thrown out or sent for pasteurization.

I later found out that the feds knew his farm was doing this. In 2024, the Food and Drug Administration discovered his farm had a “standard practice” of producing cheese from milk suspected or known to contain pathogens, according to court documents. There was told the farm to stop And destroy all cheese made with contaminated milk. It was two years ago.

The farm pushed back. He said he follows federal regulations in aging his cheese and tests it fully before sale. To force the farm to follow its orders and put an end to the practice, the government needed a ruling from a judge. But the court backlog has delayed the case until 2025.

By then, the political tide had turned. The Trump administration had arrived, with Kennedy at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services. (McAfee said the farm no longer diverts problem milk into cheesemaking.)

As federal authorities gathered evidence against the farm, McAfee focused on “educating” consumers. Online influencers spread his message to millions of people.

In January, the government abandoned his efforts to take action against the farm. A former federal employee with knowledge of the lawsuit told me that the cases involving raw milk were downgraded in the new administration because of Kennedy’s stance on the matter.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to my questions about the decision, but said in an email that the administration “will always be concerned about public health risks and will continue to take appropriate enforcement actions to protect American consumers.”

The Department of Health and the FDA did not respond to my attempts to request comment. Kennedy, through his department, also did not respond to my questions.

McAfee called the removal a “big victory.” Relying on the teachings of ancient Chinese military leader and philosopher Sun Tzu, he told me that he had learned to engage not in “their war” but in his own.

Just weeks after my visit to Raw Farm, federal regulators publicly linked its cheese to another outbreak of E. coli. Nine people have been infected in three states; more than half were under 5 years old. It took 18 days for the farm to issue a recall, and when it did, it said it was doing so “under protest.” Raw Farm had tested its products, found no pathogens, and was not at fault, McAfee told me.

I asked McAfee if these illnesses could be linked to his practice of using problematic milk to make cheese. But now he told me another story. “In the past, we went into cheese making,” he said. “We don’t do that anymore.”

I mentioned the fact that he had done similar disclosures in podcasts last year and for me a few weeks earlier. But he doubled down.

“I think you’ve caught me in something where there’s a problem between practice and what I say,” he said. “If I said it, I believed it was true at the time, but I know now we don’t use questionable milk.”

On April 30, the FDA farm its investigation into the recent outbreak of E. coli in cheese without taking any enforcement action. McAfee told me its raw cheese products are back in stores. Sprouts and HEB, two large retail chains that sold his cheese, did not respond to my email questions about the outbreak.