 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. 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. 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.
– 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.)