KFC hits back after 'maggots in my chicken' claim

DO YOU want flies with that? KFC customer claims she got an unwanted surprise with her chicken.

A CUSTOMER said she got an unwanted surprise at a KFC store on the Northern Rivers.

Alongside the secret herbs and spices, she claimed her dinner from the Casino outlet was also smothered in something else - maggots.

Melissa Cavanagh posed on Facebook that she was "feeling disgusted".

"Ewww ... just got KFC only to find maggots ... what a turn off," she said.

Melissa Cavanagh posed the photo on Facebook that she was "feeling disgusted" after finding the maggot in her KFc meal at Casino.

The post then attracted more than 300 comments with all kinds of opinions.

Darryl Telfer said: "Best post ever! Hopefully I won't have to wait so long to get my juicy KFC ... Mmmm more for me."

Rod J Pearson said the same thing happened to him, and after a few photos and a complaint "ended up with free KFC for a year".

Leboy Thompson also said on the post: "That happened to me about a month ago in Lismore ... deep fried maggots".

Another local KFC meal was reportedly served with unwanted fly larvae - Leboy Thompson posted this image on Facebook.

A KFC spokesperson said it was "unlikely" the situation happened in the restaurant pre-purchase and would welcome the opportunity to speak directly to the customer.

They issued the following statement: "KFC works closely with leading Australian forensic entomologists to understand flies to ensure our restaurant cooking and food handling practices are robust so we can keep our food safe.

"Their latest studies show that flies only deposit eggs in food with temperatures between 10 degrees Celsius and 40 degrees Celsius.

"We hold our raw chicken below these temperatures and our cooked chicken well above so again, it's unlikely this situation happened pre-purchase.

"Unfortunately at this time of the year flies are out in force across Australia.

"We urge customers to take care when leaving food uncovered during the warmer months to prevent these instances from occurring."

KFC also provided research from Professor James Wallman from University Of Wollongong, which states that a fly can deposit its eggs or maggots onto the food within seconds.

"The effect of heat on flies and their offspring makes it unlikely that eggs or live maggots found in a cooked KFC food item were already in the product prior to purchase, and it would be impossible were the eggs or maggots still alive," Mr Wallman said.

He said it was "easy for infestation of a KFC food item to occur after purchase if left unattended, even for a short period, before the customer has a chance to consume it" and consumption wouldn't harm the customer as any eggs or maggots would be killed by the human digestive system.

Other disgusting things found in fast food stores around the world

• A severed human finger: A piece of human thumb (with fingerprints still attached) was the unappetizing add-on allegedly found on an Arby's chicken sandwich in Ohio in 2005. And this isn't the only occasion human flesh has been found in fast food meals around the world. Google and you will see.
• Dead mice: Dead mice have showed up in McDonalds coffee (which was unfortunately consumed before the discovery), Subway sandwiches and crumbed and fried in a KFC meal.
• Fried chicken head: Found in a large order of nuggets at a McDonalds in Newport.
• A fried chicken lung: An Australian man found a large intact chicken lung in his KFC chicken drumstick on the Gold Coast in 2016.
• Unwrapped condoms: Customers on a few occasions have found the rubbers in Burger King in 2017, Subway sambos, McDonalds fries in Switzerland in 2007 and a McDonalds Big Mac in Easton, Pennsylvania, 1999.
• Human tooth: Found in a Texas woman's wrapped Milkybar treat in 2010.
• Disturbingly, the list doesn't end there - syringes, used bandaids, cockroaches, human blood, spiders and pills (including methamphetamine) are among things which have showed up in people's meals all around the world.