Do you want a lawsuit with that?

There have been numerous reports of the weird and wonderful entering the fast-food chain, such as deep-fried chicken heads appearing in boxes of McDonald's chicken wings - a 'Chicken McNoggin' if you will - syringes and painkillers in Burger King sandwiches, Band-Aids in slices of Pizza Hut pizza, and even live ammunition in Costco hot dogs.

But the latest in a long line of tall tales, hoaxes, urban legends, and bogus class-action lawsuits, came in the news this week that a California man was served a deep-fried rat at his local branch of KFC.

Devorise Dixon's Facebook post, which shows photographs of what appeared to be a more than average-sized rodent covered in 11 secret herbs and spices, went viral last week.

'As I bit into it I noticed that it was very hard and rubbery which made me look at it. As I looked down at it I noticed that it was in a shape of a rat with a tail. It sent deep chills throughout my whole body! I've been feeling weird ever since,' said Dixon.

Unsurprisingly, Dixon was not one to let deep-fried vermin lie and, apparently, went back to remonstrate with the chicken shop.

'WENT BACK TO KFC YESTERDAY AND SPOKE TO THE MANAGER SHE SAID IT IS A RAT AND APOLOGIZED, IT'S TIME FOR A LAWYER!!! BESAFE DON'T EAT FAST FOOD!!!' (sic)

Considering the spuriousness of some lawsuits that emanate from the US, Dixon's claim that he was to seek legal advice was hardly surprising. Questions started to be asked, however, when it emerged that the young man was refusing to allow KFC to examine the breaded rattus. Was he just protecting his evidence from a corporate vanishing act?

Well, unfortunately for Dixon, it appears the jig is up after the fast food giant issued photos of its questionable meat product which it alleges show that the rat is really just '100 per cent white meat chicken'.

There's no word yet as to whether or not Dixon will need a lawyer to defend him in a supersize defamation proceeding.