A Texas mom was in for the shock of her life when the chicken she was preparing for dinner started falling apart, not into chunks, but into long, stringy pieces—just like spaghetti!

This wasn’t supposed to happen, especially since pasta wasn’t even on the menu that night. Alesia Cooper, from Irving, Texas, was washing the raw chicken when she noticed something strange. It began to shred in her hands, looking more like noodles than meat. She took to social media to share the bizarre experience, and her post quickly went viral, leaving many people online questioning their dinner choices.

“I think it’s that fake meat,” Alesia wrote on Facebook, a post that caught the attention of thousands, even inspiring some to rethink their diets and go vegan. The post read: “I been debating on posting this, but since I had to see it, so do y’all.” Along with her story, she included a picture of the stringy chicken breast.

“I was cooking my kids’ dinner a couple of weeks ago and was cleaning the meat like I normally do, and when I went back to start cooking, it turned into this!” she explained.

Alesia said she bought the chicken from Aldi, a well-known budget supermarket, and added, “lol I think it’s that fake meat, but I’m not sure anyways… I haven’t made chicken off the bone since.”

Comments poured in, with people speculating on what might have caused this strange transformation. Some were convinced the chicken had been made in a lab, with one user saying, “That’s lab-grown chicken. It’s a new way they’re making chicken because of the bird flu and shortages. They announced last year that they found a way to grow chicken in a lab, and that’s what’s in stores now.”

Another chimed in, “GMO lab meat,” while someone else flatly declared, “It’s fake. I don’t buy it anymore.”

However, not everyone was so quick to jump on the conspiracy train. A more grounded explanation came from another user who commented, “It’s not lab-grown or 3D printed meat. It comes from real chickens. The issue is that chicken producers pump their birds with growth hormones so they grow too fast.”

It turns out, this “spaghetti meat” phenomenon isn’t as mysterious as it sounds. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it’s a result of breeding chickens to grow larger and faster. These chickens, bred to have bigger breasts, develop tough, chewy meat known as “woody breast” or, in this case, “spaghetti meat.”

“There is proof that these abnormalities are associated with fast-growing birds,” explained Dr. Massimiliano Petracci, a professor of agriculture and food science at the University of Bologna in Italy.

Although the texture of “spaghetti meat” might be unappetizing, experts assure the public that it’s safe to eat. Unfortunately for the chickens, their bodies often grow so large that their legs struggle to support the weight.

This rapid growth of chickens isn’t just a recent issue. According to the National Chicken Council, chickens raised for meat—known as broilers—are growing much faster than they used to. In 2000, the average broiler weighed just over 5 pounds at 47 days old. By 2023, that weight had ballooned to over 6.5 pounds.

For comparison, in 1925, it took 112 days to raise a chicken to a mere 2.5 pounds!

This change is driven by increasing demand for larger portions of white meat, especially chicken breasts. Dr. Michael Lilburn, a professor at Ohio State University’s Poultry Research Center, explained, “If people keep eating more and more chicken, chickens will probably have to get even bigger… We’ll have to increase the proportion of breast meat in each bird, too.”

According to Lilburn, the consumer’s demand for cheap chicken products, like nuggets and sandwiches, is the real force behind these changes. “What people don’t realize is that it’s consumer demand that’s forcing the industry to adjust,” he said. “A small but vocal minority are raising a lot of legitimate questions. The bulk of the U.S. population still doesn’t care where their food comes from, as long as it’s cheap.”

While some fast-food chains and grocery stores continue to push for bigger chicken breasts, others are looking for alternatives. According to The New York Times, some companies are now focusing on slow-growth chickens, believing that giving the birds more time to grow naturally will result in healthier, happier animals and better-tasting meat.

Meanwhile, Alesia’s post left many people horrified. One user commented, “It looks like worms! What are they feeding us?” Another said, “I got some like that a while ago. It looked like that on the bottom. Things haven’t looked right since we were young. A lot fresher back then.”

Some people suggested better alternatives, like shopping for chicken from local butchers or co-ops to ensure better quality. “You’ll get humanely raised and better quality chicken from a local butcher or co-op,” one person advised.

Others, however, were so disgusted they considered changing their diets altogether. “I’ll go vegan!! Too much lab food around,” one person declared, while another wrote, “This is why we’re thinking about going pescatarian.”

Alesia Cooper’s strange chicken encounter certainly sparked a lot of discussion, and it seems the mystery of “spaghetti meat” has left many people questioning what’s really on their dinner plates.