'Roadkill' sweets grind to a halt

Kraft said it wanted to be sensitive to consumer concerns

US food giant Kraft has decided to halt production of sweets shaped like roadkill - animals run over by cars.

Animal rights activists criticised the product, fruit-flavoured Trolli Roadkill Gummi candy, saying it encouraged acts of cruelty.

New Jersey's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) had threatened petitions, boycotts and letter campaigns to stop the product.

Kraft is in the process of selling the Trolli brand to a rival company.

Chewing gum maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co is acquiring it, along with the Altoids and Life Savers, in a $1.48bn deal.

Trolli products are known for their quirkiness, and Roadkill - which came out last summer - includes sweets shaped like flattened snakes, chickens and squirrels with track marks on their bodies.

"This is not sending the right message to kids," NJSPCA spokesman Matthew Stanton told Reuters news agency.

Kraft said it would stop production as soon as possible and sell off remaining inventory.

"We understand how this product could be misinterpreted, and we respect that point of view," Trolli Brand Manager Jim Low said in a statement.