France Recalls Raw Cow's and Goat's Milk Cheeses Over STEC E. coli in Four Notices in One Week, Mostly in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

France's official recall portal, RappelConso, published between October 14 and 19, 2026 four voluntary recalls of raw milk cheeses due to the presence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Three were sold in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and one throughout the country. There are two notices for Tome des Bauges, a cow's milk cheese with protected designation of origin (PDO) from the Bauges massif, in Savoie, from the same cheese dairy; lactic goat cheeses sold in Ardèche, and a farmhouse cow's milk tomme sold in Cantal.

On October 14, Tome des Bauges sold at the cheese counter of a supermarket chain throughout France, batch c62180189, was recalled, with serotype O26:H11. The next day, the cheese dairy recalled three other batches in the region, whole or in portions, with use-by dates of October 5 and 6. On October 16, goat cheeses in several formats, such as picodon, bûche and pyramid, sold unlabeled at the farm and at a producers' store between September 15 and 22 (batches 245 to 251), were recalled. On October 19 the tomme was added, batch 046/26, sold between June 29 and July 2. Consumers are asked not to eat them and to return them, destroy them or ask at the point of sale.

STEC's reservoir is the intestine of ruminants such as cows and goats, and it can reach the milk during milking. In raw milk cheeses there is no pasteurization to eliminate it, and neither the ripening of tommes nor the slow acidification of lactic cheeses guarantees its inactivation. O26:H11 is one of the non-O157 serotypes most associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome in Europe, the kidney complication that, according to the notices, appears in 5% to 8% of cases, especially in children. That is why French authorities recommend that children, pregnant women, older adults and immunocompromised people avoid raw milk and its cheeses, and choose cooked pressed cheeses, processed spreadable cheeses or pasteurized milk cheeses instead.

These notices add to other cheese recalls over STEC published in France since mid-September, and are a reminder that the risk is not limited to O157: the only serotype reported is O26:H11. In raw milk cheese dairies, effective control combines testing the milk of each batch with testing the cheese before sale. TAAG's Ampliora 3.9 kit detects STEC, as well as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp., by real-time PCR, so it covers the hazard in these notices; but its validated matrices are leafy greens and ground beef, not cheese, so the association is indirect and requires validating the dairy matrix. Presumptive results must be confirmed with the reference method.