Skittles ‘source of energy’ for Saskatchewan cattle

Next time you bite into a burger, don’t be surprised if you taste the rainbow.

In Wisconsin this week, a pickup truck carrying a large crate of red, unpackaged Skittles spilled its contents on a rural road. Police learned through their investigation the unmarked skittles were being used to help feed cattle in the area.

Mars, the parent company, had tossed out the candy because of a misprint. Each piece read “kittles,” rather than “Skittles.”

Ryder Lee with the Saskatchewan Cattleman’s Association said producers in Saskatchewan have done the same for years. He explained cattle often eat by-product, or food with damaged packaging.

“Wherever there’s food production for humans, there’s probably some livestock nearby that are eating the leftovers or the stuff that didn’t make people grade,” he said.

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Lee also said skittles are great source of energy, but cautions cows cannot survive on candy alone.

“You’d have to balance the rest of your ration to make sure they are getting the protein, vitamins and minerals they need to grow. But a big part of everyone’s diet is the energy,” he said.

The concept should not be considered that strange. A lot of western Canadian cattle are fed barley, and much of that barley comes from crop not good enough to turn into alcohol.

“Cattle and other livestock reduce the waste of some of these other food production things and keep it a less waste system,” Lee said.

There may be another advantage to feeding cattle skittles – it’s cheap. Feed costs have been high this winter due to colder temperatures. Cattle keep warm by eating.

“If it can stay -5 C to minus -15 C for the rest of the winter, everyone would be happy,” Lee said.

Nigel Maxwell is paNOW’s news director and morning anchor on 900 CKBI. He can be reached at nmaxwell@panow.com or tweet him @nigelmaxwell.