A Chinese couple in Sichuan province were rightly unnerved when the meat they'd just bought took on luminescent properties in the dark.

That they realized this after eating slivers of the meat for dinner was particularly unwelcome. The noticed it glowing after they'd hung the meat on the wall to keep it away from their cat.

The blog ChinaSmack translated a report on the radiant meat from Chinese media outlet Sohu. It seems the butcher and local health officials rebuffed the Sichuan man's widely reported concerns.

So what could explain the worrying glow emitted from this guy's bizarro meat?

Perhaps his butcher sources cows from this Chinese landfill-turned-feedlot, also profiled by ChinaHush?

The more likely culprit, however, is pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria.

The glowing bacteria, according to an old BBC article, are "naturally present in meat and fish but they multiply quickly if food is not stored at the correct temperature."

The meat was, again, hung from a hook nailed to the wall. If refrigerated, the meat might not have started glowing in the first place.