A TikTok user is warning others after he says a piece of Publix fried chicken looked fine from the outside but appeared questionable once he pulled it apart. The creator, who posts under the username @lawnjohnsilver in the clip provided, said he had already eaten some of the breading before noticing a red substance inside the chicken.
The video shows the man inspecting the fried chicken closely while trying to figure out whether the meat was undercooked, bloody, or affected by something else. He says he normally trusts Publix chicken and did not expect to find anything unusual. Publix fried chicken has a loyal following in the South, and videos like this tend to spread quickly once shoppers start sharing food safety concerns online.
“I’m really hoping I did not just mess up,” the TikToker says at the start of the video. “I ate a little bit of this breading, but then I started taking the chicken apart, and this is from Publix. I have never gotten bad chicken from Publix. I don’t know what this is, but this is disgusting.”
He was worried after seeing the inside
The man then focuses on the red area inside the chicken and says he is concerned it could be blood. He does not claim to know for sure what it is, but he says the appearance made him worried about whether the chicken had been cooked properly, echoing other grocery food safety concerns that spread after shoppers posted what they found at home. “I’m pretty sure that’s blood in there,” he says. “I’m pretty sure this chicken is not cooked all the way.
He adds that he only ate some of the outside breading before noticing the inside. “All I did was like eat a little bit of the breading. So hopefully that’s I’m I’m sure this part’s cooked, but what the f***? The clip continues with him turning the chicken over and questioning whether the whole piece is unsafe or whether the red part could be something else in the meat. “This is the most f***** up thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And I’m really hoping that is not blood in there that’s exactly what it looks like.”
“Yeah, I can’t 100% tell if that’s just something that’s f***** up on the chicken or this whole thing is bad. But yeah, hopefully I do not get sick.” Viewers had different reactions, though many told him to take it back to the store. One person wrote, “Publix needs to be f****** taken to court for price gouging.”
Others were more direct about their frustration with the chain, tying the chicken complaint to a broader loss of trust in Publix’s customer complaints. Similar frustration has followed other grocery finds, though, in this case, one viewer suggested the red substance might not necessarily be raw blood.
Another viewer suggested the red substance might not necessarily be raw blood. One user wrote, “I may be wrong, but it looks like an abscess that is so f***** nasty omg.” That kind of claim cannot be confirmed from the video alone. A red or dark spot in cooked chicken can sometimes come from bone marrow, bruising, veins, or undercooking, but the safe answer is still to stop eating it and report it to the store if it looks or smells off.
Food safety guidance is clear that poultry should not be judged by color alone. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service says chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F as measured with a food thermometer, and it notes that only a thermometer can accurately confirm safety throughout the meat.
Published: Sep 2, 2026 05:30 am