A mysterious highway spill has revealed an insane secret about Skittles!

This has got to be the strangest story of 2017 - so far!

Last week, in Wisconsin, a downpour soaked a huge cardboard box of the Skittles in a flatbed truck, causing it to break open and spill "hundreds of thousands" of red Skittles all over the highway.

But what's even more bizarre, is it turns out those Skittles were intended to feed cattle.

Yes, cows.

It turns out the practice of feeding reject lollies to cows has been going on for decades. Bakeries and lolly companies regularly sell their rejects as animal feed, as they are a source of "cheap carbs" for the cows, a former farmer has divulged to the media.

What's also crazy, is that experts insist doing so isn't as bad as you might think.

"When you talk about feeding candy, it's something that can help supplement a small portion of the diet," said Liz Binversie, Brown County UW-Extension Agriculture Educator. "Cows need carbohydrates as well. They need sugar. It provides energy and calories for them."