Code remove product in cart Magento

Code remove a product in cart.

$cartHelper = Mage::helper('checkout/cart');

        $items                          = $cartHelper->getCart()->getItems();

        $sku                               = 'product_1';

        foreach ($items as $item) {

            //remove product have sku is $sku

            if ($item->getProduct()->getSku() == $sku) {

                $cartHelper->getCart()->removeItem($item->getItemId())->save();

            }

        }