YOU don’t expect this in your three-piece feed.

When Chevron Island man Marc Nicholls bit into his fried chicken on Tuesday afternoon, instead of finding tasty white breast he found knurled grey tissue that looked like a mass of slimy brains.

A spokesman for KFC said the flesh was most likely a chicken lung or kidney that was mistakenly not removed during preparation of the food.

Staff at Labrador’s Frank St KFC did little to allay his disgust by later declaring “it might be a lung” and not off­ering a refund until after they saw Mr Nicholls being photographed by the Gold Coast Bulletin. He had earlier paid $11.95 for the meal while waiting for his car windows to be tinted at a nearby ­workshop.

“It was just vile,” he said.

“I spat it out and I did feel genuinely sick after it.

“I took it to the counter and they said ‘Sometimes this stuff happens’ and told me to email their head office.

“I just want people to be aware.

“The chicken should be looked at before it’s put out for human consumption.”

Mr Nicholls, who said he was “Scottish, so I even eat haggis”, threw away the chicken after photographing it and said the experience had put him right off eating at the chicken chain. “No, never again, absolutely — it made me feel like I don’t want to eat any meat again.”

media_camera Tastes like chicken? The piece of ‘kidney’ Marc Nicholls found in his KFC.

A spokeswoman for KFC said Mr Nicholls knocked back the offer of a free meal at the time but KFC was “happy” to offer the replacement if he was interested.

“We can certainly understand Mr Nicholls’ concern but have identified that what was found is probably a chicken kidney or lung,” she said.

“Most of the time offal is removed in the preparation process but occasionally it may remain.

“There’s no health risk ass­ociated when this occurs but we appreciate that if a customer hasn’t seen this bef­ore it may look disturbing.”

A council spokeswoman said city officers would take action in conjunction with Gold Coast Health officials if Mr Nicholls lodged an official complaint.

media_camera Just what is it?

“The city is yet to receive a complaint on this matter but, as the complaint relates to a consumer all­eging that they did not get food as labelled, the matter would be referred to the Gold Coast Public Health Unit, who would then lead a joint investigation with the city,” she said.

Gold Coast Health said queries with food retailers were a council matter.

The council spokeswoman said the city conducted regular inspections of food outlets to safeguard Gold Coasters.

“Fast food restaurants are licensed under the Food Act and are required to meet nat­ional standards,” she said.

“They are inspected annually by City of Gold Coast’s environmental health officers for compliance with the food safety standards.”