UPDATE: It was always chicken

Independently performed test results confirm that the alleged "KFC rat" is in fact KFC chicken.

EVIDENCE: The photograph taken from Dixon's Instagram page supports KFC's initial assessment that the alleged "rat" is, in fact, a piece of chicken. Independently performed test results confirmed that assessment.

ALBERTON – The “KFC fried rat” story has reached a definitive, scientific conclusion after going viral last week.

Devorise Dixon, a 25-year-old Californian man, took to Facebook on Tuesday, June 11, after allegedly biting into a breaded, fried rat.

KFC denied the allegations after examining a photo, taken from Dixon’s Instagram, from a different angle which seemed to demonstrate that the “rat” was simply an oddly shaped piece of chicken.

KFC claimed that Dixon initially refused to produce the sample for evaluation, but his lawyer provided the sample for independent testing on Friday, June 19.

KFC then released the following statement: “Based on visual analysis of the sample (and accompanying photography) and on the results of the ELISA-TEK® Cooked Poultry Species Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Kit (ELISA Technologies, Gainesville, FL), Food Safety Net Services, Ltd. declares the battered and breaded cooked meat sample to be poultry.”

KFC has not commented on whether they will take further legal action against Dixon.