Mars Perplexed About Skittles Said to Be Used as Cattle Feed

A mysterious Skittles spill on a rural highway in Wisconsin is taking another twist, with Mars Inc. saying it doesn't know why the discarded candy might have been headed to become cattle feed. The case began when a Wisconsin sheriff posted on Facebook this week that "hundreds of thousands of Skittles" had been found spilled on a highway. Later, he updated the post to say the candy had fallen off a truck on its way to deliver cattle feed, the AP reports. A variety of food byproducts are commonly used for animal feed, and Mars says it has procedures for discarding foods for that purpose. However, the company says the Skittles in question came from a factory that doesn't sell unused products to be turned into syrup added to animal feed.

"We don't know how it ended up as it did and we are investigating," Mars said. Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt says one of his deputies came across the spill and sent him photos. The sheriff tells the AP he spoke with the farmer, but declined to immediately give the farmer's name and did not respond when asked how the office connected the Skittles with the farmer. Mars spokeswoman Denise Young says the Skittles were supposed to be destroyed because a power outage prevented the signature "S'' from being placed on the candies. She says Mars plans to contact the sheriff's office and the farmer to find out more. (More Skittles stories.)