What’s In KFC Chicken? Mother Complains Maggots Made Her Son Sick

A mother in West Helena, Arkansas, told police her five-year-old son had to go to the hospital after eating maggot ridden chicken at a local Kentucky Fried Chicken, local TV station KARK reported Tuesday. The police said while it's not a criminal issue, the public has a right to know.

KFC responded to the allegations with a Twitter post saying the boy's food poisoning couldn't have been caused by the restaurant's food. "Our chicken is cooked to 165F or higher and held at above 140F. We are confident this did not occur inside our restaurant," the post read.

The unnamed mom said she took her son to the emergency room when he began vomiting after eating at the KFC on Oct. 2. She said she called the manager a few days later but her call was never returned.

The Health Department investigated the restaurant but found nothing worthy of a citation, a KFC spokesperson told Fortune. An official statement released by the restaurant Tuesday firmly denied the allegations and explained that the Health Department had investigated that specific store just a few days before the incident was said to have taken place.

KFC has often been accused of unsanitary practices in the past. A website called KFC Made Me Sick alleges that KFCs all over the world are violating health codes and causing sickness and urges people to report their own incidents. The Health Department shut down a KFC in Tompkinsville, Staten Island in New York City after it found live mice and flies in the same areas as the food in 2014. Back in 2009, a woman claimed she found a bloody Band Aid in her KFC order in Chesterton, Indiana. In 2008, a group of teenagers working at a northern California KFC posted a picture of themselves on MySpace bathing in the restaurant's sink. In the worst reported incident, a young girl in Australia was left brain damaged after contracting salmonella from KFC chicken. The company awarded her $8 million.