A Hawke's Bay woman is disgusted after she vomited when she discovered a cluster of fly eggs in her KFC chicken.
The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, brought KFC for lunch on November 30 and took it to the park to eat.
"I ate my chicken inside the car because it was raining but didn't finish it, so I went home and put it in the fridge."
Later that afternoon the woman felt peckish and decided to eat the rest of her chicken while watching some TV.
"I was watching TV while eating the second to last piece of chicken, I checked the piece and it didn't look right."
The woman's bite revealed a clump of fly eggs underneath the crispy layer of chicken skin.
"I vomited, I felt sick that day and couldn't sleep, I feel disgusted when I think about it."
The woman told Newshub she doesn't usually inspect her chicken, but is glad she did this time.
"I don't usually check my chicken and now I don't know if I ate the fly eggs or not."
She called the local KFC the same day she got the unwelcome surprise. KFC didn't answer, so she called the next day.
"The following day I called again, I called three times before they answered. When they finally answered, they told me to send an email."
When the woman spoke to staff they advised her to store the chicken in her home so KFC could conduct an investigation.
"When I was able to talk to them, they told me to keep the chicken and put it in the freezer or the fridge if my freezer was full.
"The chicken was already out of the fridge and had been out for a couple of hours, the KFC staff told me it's too late and to put it in a bag outside," the woman added.
The fried chicken now sits in the woman's back yard away from the house -she thinks it is rotting.
"The chicken is in a sealed back now, I don't want to open the bag."
She told Newshub KFC would take the chicken off her hands to investigate the matter, but hasn't heard from the company.
After numerous attempts to get in touch with KFC with no one answering phone calls or emails, the woman says she is frustrated.
"If they can come back to their customers that would be good, if they answer their phone that would be good too, the phone isn't there for display."
A Restaurant Brands spokesperson told Newshub: "In line with the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) food safety requirements, KFC has stringent processes and procedures in place to ensure that we consistently serve high quality chicken to our customers daily. All KFC staff, across all our stores, are trained in food safety, ensuring that high standards are maintained.
"KFC cooked chicken reaches an internal temperature greater than 85 degrees Celsius and is served at a temperature greater than 60 degrees Celsius to comply with the 2014 Food Act, this includes product for delivery.
"After purchasing product(s) from store, we recommend customers consume immediately. Based on the length of time between purchase and the customer noticing the fly eggs on the product, it is highly likely this contamination occurred outside the KFC Restaurant.
"We also acknowledge that we could have communicated quicker with our customer and have sent our sincere apologies for the delay."
