In a twist to your Twister, Australia’s lettuce crisis has resulted in the popular salad item forcing KFC to change its menu. Image: Pixabay
Watch: KFC says ‘maggots are not possible’ after another video goes viral
KFC has denied a claim made by a Lydenburg woman who said that she bought ‘maggot-infested chicken’ from one of its outlets in Mpumalanga.
In a twist to your Twister, Australia’s lettuce crisis has resulted in the popular salad item forcing KFC to change its menu. Image: Pixabay
A video of what appears to be chicken from KFC has gone viral after a woman claimed that the meat is swirling with maggots.
Woman claims KFC sold her maggot-infested chicken
KFC denied any reports that their food is not safe to eat after a woman shared a short clip of maggot-infested chicken she claims to have bought from a KFC outlet in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga.
“Guys we are going to die,” the woman can be heard saying in the video that was shared on Twitter on 16 November 2021.
Proof of purchase
KFC South Africa shared their reply in the comments section, asking the customer for a receipt to prove the chicken was bought from them.
“Hello there, thank you for informing us about your experience. Please send a photo of your receipt or proof of purchase/payment and your contact details so we can look further into this?,” the KFC tweet reads.
Meanwhile, KFC South Africa also confirmed to The Citizen on Tuesday afternoon (16 November) that they are aware of the incident, but that “it must be noted that our chicken is cooked at high temperatures of 170°C and held in warming cabinets above 60°C , 22°C above the minimum standard temperature”.
They say the presence of maggots in KFC chicken when purchased is simply not possible under these conditions.
Various Twitter speculations
But, the speculation on Twitter continued.
One Twitter user wanted to know if the maggots wouldn’t have been killed in the blazing hot frying oil, or whether the maggots appeared while “on those trays that collect dust and customer/staff breaths”.
Another Twitter user responded by saying he worked at a KFC outlet in Tshwane and that hot chicken doesn’t necessarily mean it has been deep-fried.
“Sometimes when we had fried chicken left over [in] the night, we stored it and sold it again the next day… just because it’s hot it doesn’t mean it was fried… Microwave swirrat [sic],” he said.
Strict global policies
To this, KFC South Africa said that any potential left-over chicken is safely discarded and not resold to customers the following day.
Last year, Twitter users questioned another claim made by a man from Durban that he bought maggot-infested chicken from KFC a Durban outlet. At the time, KFC issued a statement, saying that their strict global policies and processes include specific cooking times and temperatures to ensure that their products don’t pose a health risk to their customers.
The statement also said the chicken was quality and safety checked 34 times from the farm to the restaurant, before it is served, to ensure customers are served freshly prepared chicken.
According to The Citizen, it is the same response they received from KFC South Africa on 16 November.
What we know about maggots
It is said that maggots are fly larvae, usually of the common housefly and also the bluebottle. Flies are attracted to food and other rubbish; they lay their eggs on the rubbish; later the eggs hatch into maggots.
It is believed that the only way for you to really get a “maggot problem” is if flies can get to your waste.
