DNA test proves that the 'rat' that appeared in a KFC bucket was just chicken all along

Remember that rat-shaped nugget? Independent tests have found it was just chicken

KFC fans rejoice - it turns out that the deep-fried 'rat' that one American man found in his meal last week was actually a piece of chicken.

25-year-old Devorise Dixon, from Los Angeles, California, posted the deeply unsettling picture on his Facebook page, which shows a piece of chicken from his KFC meal that looks suspiciously like a breaded, deep-fried rat.

Dixon claimed he took a bite of the suspicious nugget and noticed it was "very hard and rubbery".

He saud: "As I looked down at it, I noticed that it was in the shape of a rat with a tail."

In the Facebook post, which was been shared tens of thousands of times, he writes: "It's time for a lawyer!"

His gross-out picture made headlines around the world, and captured the attention of millions of morbidly fascinated people.

However, KFC's legal department should be able to rest easy. In a statement given to ABC News, the company said that Dixon's attorney had handed over the nugget for testing at an independent lab.

A DNA test followed, and shows that the nugget, although distinctly rodent-shaped, was just chicken all along.

There's nothing that stirs attention online more than dead animals turning up in odd places, but it looks like this particular story was a false start.