A California man's claim that he was served a deep-fried "rat" at a KFC restaurant has been debunked with a DNA test of the meat, said the company, which commissioned the independent examination after the photo he posted on social media went viral. 
 
 "Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim," the company said in a statement to ABC News today. 
 
 "On Friday, the customer's attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along -- the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed," the company added. 
 
 In a Facebook post, the customer, who identified himself as Devorise Dixon, 25, wrote: "I went to KFC and [bought] a 3 [piece] chicken tender! As I bit into a piece of it noticed it was very hard/touch and rubbery! Which sent this deep chill throughout my body. I looked down at it and saw it was a cooked rat! Made me feel sick!" 
 
 The images, posted publicly on Dixon's page, show a breaded object with what could have been mistaken for a tail. The post quickly went viral last week, prompting the popular fast food chain to respond. 
 
 KFC told ABC News last week: "Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape, and we currently have no evidence to support this allegation." 
 
 ABC News has reached out to Dixon for comment last week and today through Facebook, but Dixon did not immediately respond. 
 
 In the post, Dixon wrote that he spoke to the manager at the KFC outlet who, he said, admitted that Dixon was served a rat -- and even apologized. 
 
 The chain noted last week that other photos posted by Dixon "clearly" show "it's a piece of hand-breaded white meat chicken." ||||| The man who said he was served a deep fried piece of rat instead of chicken at a California KFC is being called a liar by the company, following a DNA test of the meat. 
 
 “Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim,” the KFC Rodrigo Coronel told FoxNews.com. 
 
 On June 12 , KFC customer Devorise Dixon posted a now-viral photo of a piece of meat on his Facebook page that appeared to be rodent shaped with a long string of fried breading, resembling a tail. 
 
 The image immediately drew skepticism from some while shocking others. 
 
 KFC immediately responded to the allegations by sending out pictures that showed how the fried chicken is cooked, saying Dixon's original photo clearly showed white meat and couldn't possibly be a rat. 
 
 Related Image Expand / Contract KFC sent out images showing how the meat could not have been rat. (KFC) 
 
 After initially complaining to the restaurant manager, Dixon reportedly refused to communicate directly to KFC and retained an attorney, who gave the product to the chicken chain on Friday for testing at an independent lab. 
 
 Now the results are in and DNA tests confirmed the product was chicken and not a rat as the customer claimed, according to KFC. 
 
 “We did an internal investigation and talked to all employees. That statement is false,” Coronel said. 
 
 KFC now wants Dixon to “apologize and cease making false claims.”
– Just as exciting as a Maury paternity test, but slightly more stomach-churning: The DNA test results are in for a KFC meal a California man claimed was a deep-fried rat. And those results show that it's definitely, absolutely, without a doubt nothing other than a fried chicken tender, just as the restaurant chain has insisted from day one, ABC News reports. The company had commissioned a lab test after 25-year-old Devorise Dixon posted a photo earlier this month to his Facebook page that showed a breaded, fried piece of … something that looked disgustingly like a rat had fallen into the batter vat. The photo soon went viral, and Dixon claimed on Facebook that when he went back to the restaurant, a manager admitted it was a rat and apologized. KFC decided to call Dixon's bluff. "Recently, a customer questioned the quality of a KFC product, and this received considerable publicity given the sensational nature of his claim," the company said in a statement given to ABC. On June 19, "the customer's attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along—the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed." ABC couldn't reach Dixon for comment, but KFC has the obviously simple explanation for the oddly-shaped repast: "Our chicken tenders often vary in size and shape." The company also wants Dixon to say he's sorry and "cease making false claims," per Fox News. (We had a feeling fried rat wasn't part of KFC's $185 million plan to win customers back.)