KFC denies claims that it sold a customer a fried rat in a recent meal.
"We currently have no evidence to support this allegation," KFC said in a statement to USA TODAY Network.
Customer Devorise Dixon posted photos on June 11 to Facebook of the alleged crispy rat.
Dixon claimed he purchased the meal at a KFC located in Compton, Calif. Since sharing the photos online, the images have gone viral with people debating whether or not it is a real rat.
Some, including KFC, have argued that it's just an unusually shaped piece of chicken.
On the same day as the original Facebook post, Dixon shared a second photo on Instagram of the fried item from a different angle.
In the second photo, KFC claims a bite can be seen in the lower right side and it "clearly shows it's a piece of hand-breaded white meat chicken," Rodrigo Coronel, a spokesman for KFC wrote in an email.
"We have extended the opportunity to have an independent lab evaluate the product at our own expense, but the customer refuses to provide the product in question," KFC's statement said.
Dixon has declined to speak with KFC independently or through a lawyer, the statement said.
Dixon has not responded to requests for comment from USA TODAY Network.
