Northern Star Co. has begun a voluntary product recall of Simply Potatoes refrigerated potato products suspected of containing Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. Listeria is one of the most virulent food borne pathogens with 20 percent of clinical infections resulting in death.

Scientists have made a key discovery into the genetics of the bacteria that causes blackleg, an economically damaging disease of potatoes, that could lead to new ways to fight the disease.

While many may be familiar with potato late blight, the plant disease responsible for widespread potato shortages, the lesser known potato wart has the potential to be as devastating to economies that depend on potato production, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS).