SNAPPED through a drive-through window, this photo of the filthy kitchen floor in a suburban Adelaide KFC has gone viral.

Taken at KFC's Elizabeth store, the photo was posted by customer Shane Fergusson to the fast food chain's official Facebook page on Sunday. Since then it has racked up more than 2400 "likes" and been shared more than 580 times.

In the photo, a female staff member can be seen standing in what appears to be a slick of grease, surrounded by discarded fast food wrappers.

The floor also appears to be littered with food waste.

"This was the view I was greeted with at your Elizabeth SA store only 5 mins ago," Mr Fergusson wrote in the photo caption.

"Really not a good look and makes me think twice about eating my meal!! Not happy :("

The photo has been copied and reposted to the KFC Facebook page several times as well as to link-sharing site Reddit, and has even inspired a set of memes - humorous joke images - saying "KFC Elizabeth? Nah mate, Wingfield tip".

In a follow-up comment posted underneath the photograph on Tuesday, Mr Fergusson said he had since been contacted by a female store manager who apologised for the mess.

"She agreed the mess was not on and under no circumstances should it have been allowed to get like that," he wrote.

"She agreed that it would have taken 10 seconds to pick up that rubbish and the floor should have been cleaned so the workers were not put at risk of slipping. Even under-staffed it should have been taken care of."

Another KFC Elizabeth store manager, who would only give his name as "Luca", told adelaidenow today he was aware of the photograph but was "not allowed to comment".

He said the photograph was of his store's kitchen "as far as I understand it".

KFC's national management issued a response this afternoon.

"We have reviewed the photo and agree that the packaging on the floor is not consistent with KFC's procedures which require all floors to be kept clean and tidy, and will be looking into the possible cause of this issue," it said.

"The photo has been taken and posted without the staff member's permission and for that reason it should be removed from any sites."

While the photo was originally posted on Facebook and Reddit with the staff member's face visible, adelaidenow blurred the image before putting it on this site.

In 2009, a video showing a filthy Adelaide McDonald's dining room went viral, and was featured on the Drudge Report and Daily Mail websites.

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide reeled at the video, shot at 3am on a Sunday by a 22-year-old student, which showed diners sitting amongst piles of food waste and litter at the fast food chain's Hindley St store.

Originally published as KFC = Kitchen Filth Controversy