Mattia Maestri dies at 13 after nine-year coma caused by E. coli in raw-milk cheese

The infection and nine-year coma

On 5 June 2017, four-year-old Mattia Maestri ate a piece of his favourite cheese, Due Laghi, produced by a dairy in Coredo, Trentino. The cheese was made from raw milk contaminated with Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (Stec). Within hours he suffered severe abdominal cramps and was rushed to hospital.

“Mattia asked for his usual cheese, 'Due Laghi'. We didn't know it was made from both pasteurised and raw milk. It was marketed as a snack for children. That evening, Mattia had terrible cramps.”

Doctors initially misdiagnosed him with appendicitis and operated. The infection triggered haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a rare but life-threatening complication that caused irreversible brain damage. Mattia fell into a coma and never regained consciousness. For nine years he remained in a vegetative state, blind, paralysed, fed through a gastric tube, and suffering up to 40 epileptic seizures a day while receiving 47 medications daily.

Legal consequences

The case led to years of criminal proceedings. In December 2023 a first-instance court convicted Lorenzo Biasi, then president of the Caseificio Sociale di Coredo, and cheesemaker Gianluca Fornasari of very serious negligent personal injury. The Trento appeal court upheld the verdicts in July 2024 and set a provisional award of one million euro, with 600,000 euro for Mattia and 200,000 euro for each parent. On 5 March 2025 the Court of Cassation declared the defendants' appeals inadmissible, making the convictions final and confirming the causal link between the contaminated cheese and the child's injuries. A paediatrician who had refused to examine Mattia in the emergency room was also sent to trial for negligence and refusal of official duties.

Father's campaign for warnings

Giovanni Battista Maestri refused financial compensation and instead channelled his grief into a public campaign. He founded a consumer association dedicated to victims of intrinsically dangerous food products, published a book on the risks of raw-milk cheese, and addressed the Italian parliament to demand mandatory health warnings on such products, similar to those on cigarette packets. He has announced he will file a criminal complaint for involuntary manslaughter against those responsible for the cheese production.

“I didn't manage to save my child. But I will save many others.”

Health authorities' alert

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) reinforced the health ministry's prevention campaign after Mattia's death, stating that for children under five the consumption of raw-milk cheeses is "absolutely not recommended" when production processes cannot guarantee safety. The bacteria's natural reservoir is cattle, sheep and goats, and contamination often occurs during milking. While most aged raw-milk cheeses pose little risk, fresh, artisanal or alpine products carry a non-negligible danger. In 2025 Italy recorded 43 cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome, all in children under 15, with summer the highest-risk period. Paediatric nephrologist Marina Vivarelli warned that the Shiga toxin can cause gastroenteritis in adults but may trigger severe HUS in small children, leading to kidney failure, neurological damage or death.