World

Mysterious Skittles spill in rural Wisconsin takes another twist

Published

January 20, 2017

According to local ABC affiliate WISN.com, a flatbed truck hauling a load of red Skittles on a dark and rainy Tuesday night this week, had a minor mishap when the rain-soaked cartons gave way, dumping thousands of the red sweets onto a rural road in Dodge County, Wisconsin.

The mystery of the dumped mess of red candy remained just that, at least until Wednesday afternoon when it was revealed the candies were headed to a local farm to be used as cattle feed. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office shared photos of the strange occurrence on Facebook, along with the explanation for where the candy was headed.

The incident gained a lot of attention after CNN wrote about it, and comments on the Sheriff Department’s Facebook page questioned the use of candy being fed to livestock. All this prompted an investigation by the maker of Skittles, Mars Inc.

Sheriff Dale Schmidt says the smell was unmistakable. “We got a big whiff.”

Dodge County Sheriffs Department

According to the Associated Press today, Mars Inc says that while a variety of food byproducts are used in making cattle feed, the candy maker says it has procedures for the disposal of foods for that purpose. Mars also added that the Skittles in question came from a factory that doesn’t sell unused products for animal feed.

“We don’t know how it ended up as it did and we are investigating,” Mars said.

Company spokesperson Denise Young said the Skittles were supposed to be destroyed because a power outage at the candy factory prevented the stamping of the signature “S” on each candy. She said that the company is getting in touch with the Sheriff’s Department and the farmer.

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt said he had spoken to the farmer but didn’t have his telephone number. He did not respond when asked for the farmer’s email address, either.

Linda Kurtz, a corporate environmental manager at Mars says the candy in question came from their plant in Yorkville, Illinois. This plant does not sell unused candies for animal feed. The other U.S. plant that makes Skittles is in Waco, Texas, and they sell unused candy to a processor that melts them down into syrup.

But as the Mars spokeswoman said – Mars does not sell directly to farmers, and its procedures follow Food and Drug Administration regulations.

So what, exactly is going on?

In this article:carbohydrates, cattle feed, FDA regulations, Mars Inc, skittles spill

Written By Karen Graham

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.