It was the photo that shocked fast food lovers around the world - could KFC really have served up a fried rat to a customer?

The photo, posted online by Devorise Dixon from California, went viral earlier this month.

"It sent deep chills throughout my whole body," he wrote at the time. "I'm still feeling sick, can't even eat!!!"

But KFC has now responded to say that independent lab tests on the 'rat' have proved that it was actually chicken.

A KFC spokesperson said: "Recently in the US, a customer falsely claimed his KFC chicken was a rat, which received a huge amount of publicity given the unrealistic nature of his story.

"On Friday, the customer's lawyer finally handed the product over to KFC for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along - the product was chicken and not rat."

At the time, Devorise said he bit into the piece and noticed it was "very hard and rubbery" before realising it was rat-shaped.

He said he took the piece back to the KFC in Compton, California, where he bought it and spoke to the manager, who told him it was a rat.

Newsbeat has contacted Devorise for a comment.

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