KFC confirms ‘fried rat’ is actually chicken

MANILA, Philippines – Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has spoken up about the “fried rat” incident that’s gone viral on social media.

One KFC customer, Devorise Dixon, recently posted photos of his order of chicken tenders, which sported what appeared to be a deep-fried tail. He said on Instagram that he thought the piece was “hard and rubbery” and “shaped like a rat.” 

“TOOK IT BACK TO KFC YESTERDAY AND SPOKE WITH THE MANAGER. SHE SAID IT’S A RAT!!!” he wrote in the caption of another photo posted on Instagram. 

KFC issued a statement to USA Today, saying that lab tests have confirmed that it’s chicken, not rat. “Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim. The product has now been tested by a third-party independent lab, which confirmed it is definitely a piece of chicken, as we knew all along. The right thing for this customer to do is to apologize and cease making false claims about the KFC brand,” they said. 

They also responded to Tweets about the matter online. Here’s an example: 

@kfc @SooperMagnus Yes. They should apologize for mistaking chicken so poorly made and prepared that it resembled a rat. #stayclassy

— Matt Wiseman (@trollboy) June 24, 2015

Here are some photos Dixon posted on Instagram:

I WENT TO KFC YESTERDAY AND BOUGHT A 3PIECE CHICKEN TENDER. AS I BIT INTO IT I NOTICED THAT I WAS VERY HARD AND RUBBERY WHICH MADE ME LOOK AT IT. I NOTICED IT HAD A VERY LONG TAIL AND WAS SHAPED LIKE AN RAT! IT SENT DEEP CHILLS THROUGHOUT MY WHOLE BODY IM STILL FEELING SICK CANT EVEN EAT!!! PLEASE WATCH WHAT YOU EAT COLD WORLD! I BOUGHT THIS FROM KFC IN COMPTON, CA ON WILMINGTON AND 120th

A photo posted by Devorise Dixon (@devorisedixon89) on Jun 11, 2015 at 9:55am PDT

TOOK IT BACK TO KFC YESTERDAY AND SPOKE WITH THE MANAGER. SHE SAID IT’S A RAT!!!

A photo posted by Devorise Dixon (@devorisedixon89) on Jun 12, 2015 at 8:01am PDT

Exasperated social media users left comments on Dixon’s photos. “Do the right thing dude and retract your statement,” said commenter lottie.grace. 

“Why would you take the pictures & not give them what you are alleging is a rat!! You better have a good attorney, they are going to sue you for defamation. The state of California has Defamation Laws to protect against people like you,” wrote v_ortiz. 

“Shame on you. Have the decency to apologize,” said mjm1989. – Rappler.com