Photo: CNN

When a massive pile of Skittles was spilled onto an icy road in Wisconsin, nobody imagined the facts we'd discover about Skittles as a result.

Both of them are definitely eye-opening, and make for a great story.

It all begins in rural Dodge County, Wisconsin, where CNN reported that a truck hauling red Skittles had a spill in the middle of a highway. Hundreds of thousands of the little red candies blanketed the road.

You may think that would be a sticky situation and lead to a massive amount of traffic. However, the icy roads actually benefited from the Skittles left behind, as the candies provided traction to motorists on the road and help prevented slipping.

Interesting. Maybe Skittles should be left on our roads along with salt; it will melt the ice and provide proper traction at the same time.

It would definitely be a good alternative to where the Skittles were going otherwise.

When the Dodge County Sheriff's Department tracked down the truck where the spilled Skittles came from, they discovered that the Skittles were intended to be processed into cattle feed.

Apparently, this has been a practice going on for years as bakeries and candy makers sell their rejects to cattle farmers for feed as a source of cheap carbs. With rising corn prices, it makes sense that cattle farmers have turned to these resources to feed their cattle, despite how weird it may seem.

The plot in this story continues to thicken, as Mars has launched an investigation into the matter, but not because of the intended use for the Skittles, which they say is regularly done via FDA procedures. Their reason behind the investigation is because the factory in which the Skittles came from doesn't sell its unused products to be turned into animal feed.

Talk about a strange story to shed light on an interesting segment of the food industry.