Health officials investigate Popeyes after woman claims she was served fried rat head

Washington DC, USA-November 24, 2014: This Popeyes restaurant was spotted in Northwest Cleveland Park of Washington DC. The restaurant has been repainted with a new look. The interior has been changed as well. Popeyes is a popular fast food restaurant that serves chicken and seafood. (Coast-to-Coast)

New York City health department officials are investigating a Popeyes franchise location after a woman claims she was served a cooked rat head in her fried chicken meal.

On Sunday, Rosemary Thomas shared a series of images on Facebook, which she claims show a rodent head that had been breaded and deep-fried.

“Friends and family, this is a meal Popeyes in Harlem served my daughter, my niece and sister. This is clearly a rat and they have the nerve to have a 5 rating by the department of health.”

The Popeyes location in question, located Manhattan’s Harlem neighborhood, received an “A” grade from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in April after passing a routine inspection, reports DNA Info. However, the restaurant was written up on three separate occasions since 2013 after authorities found “evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.”

In May 2015, health inspectors noted that the restaurant was“not vermin proof.

Renee Kopowski, a spokeswoman for Popeyes, told DNA Info that the corporate office has reached out to the Harlem franchise owner regarding the incident. Kopowski said that instances of customers finding unusual items in chicken meals is not common but that unrecognizable items “usually turn out to be chicken organs.” The company will be reaching out to location’s supplier.

According to the spokeswoman, Thomas was asked to bring her chicken meal back to the restaurant on Monday, meet with the franchise owner and submit it to authorities for testing and authentication.

Thomas was not immediately available for comment when contacted by FoxNews.com

Last year, a California man claimed he was served a deep-fried rat at KFC. DNA testing proved that the rodent shaped piece of meat was actually chicken.