Deep fried rat: KFC claims viral photos were deliberate hoax

KFC has hit out at claims by a customer in California that he was served a deep fried rat by the fast food chain, saying pictures of the meal were a hoax.

Devorise Dixon spotted the strangely shaped food in his box meal and decided it had to be a deep fried rat. He took pictures of the item and then posted them online.

"It sent deep chills throughout my whole body! I've been feeling weird ever since. It's time for a lawyer, be safe don't eat fast food!" the California native wrote on Facebook.

However KFC has said it believes Dixon intended to deliberately deceive the public. As evidence it supplied images of the offending food item to IBTimes UK from a second angle.

"The images the customer originally posted do not include this second angle because it clearly shows it is a piece of hand-breaded white meat chicken," the fast food chain said in a statement.

"Based on this, and the fact that he refuses to allow anyone to see the product, we are left to believe that he intended to deceive the public with this hoax and we are considering all options."