Fri Feb 25,11:54 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kraft Foods says it will bow to demands by animal rights activists that it stop selling candies shaped like animals that have been run over by cars.
The New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals publicly demanded removal of Road Kill candy, sold under Kraft’s Trolli Gummi brand, earlier this week.
“This is not sending the right message to kids,” NJSPCA spokesman Matthew Stanton said.
On Friday, Kraft said it wanted to be sensitive to consumer concerns about the candies, which are shaped like flattened snakes, chickens and squirrels with track marks on their bodies. The product was introduced last summer.
“We understand how this product could be misinterpreted, and we respect that point of view,” Trolli Brand Manager Jim Low said in a statement.
Trolli, whose products include octopus- and worm-shaped candies, is one of several confectionary brands Kraft has agreed to sell to chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr. Co.. That deal, valued at $1.48 billion (770 million pounds), also includes Kraft’s Altoids and Life Savers brands.