‘This Might Actually Make Me Go Vegetarian’: California Woman Buys Chicken Wings From ’10-Out-Of-10 Respectable Chicken Joint.’ Then She Bites Into One

A California woman’s dinner took a disturbing turn when she bit into a chicken wing and discovered a nasty and unexpected texture.

The shocking discovery has her reconsidering eating meat altogether. And several people in the comments section are saying this might be the reason they go vegetarian after all.

Woman Discovers Pus In Chicken Wing

Content creator Morgan Godvin (@morganbeatsoverdose) shared her horrifying experience biting into a chicken wing from what she describes as a “very respectable joint.” Her video has more than 1.1 million views.

“Horrifying find inside my chicken wing,” the text overlay on the video reads.

“I am never eating chicken again. You know what? … This might actually make me go vegetarian,” she says in the TikTok. She looks visibly shaken and disturbed.

Godvin explains that the chicken wing came from a restaurant she rates “10 out of 10” for their wings. However, when she bit into the piece, she felt and saw something unexpected.

“This is pus because this whole thing had an abscess. And so when I went to go bite into it, pus shot out from the meat,” she says. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears.

The video shows what appear to be yellowish, speckled chunks throughout the fried chicken leg that resemble overcooked egg yolk.

“Multiple tablespoons of this leaked out onto the plate,” she says.

“There’s like a cavity left behind where all the infection and the abscess was. So that means that this chicken, let’s see, had a horrific infection at its joint,” Godvin added.

She questions how the chicken managed to pass quality control.

“All the chickens either look so sickly that it passed multiple levels of quality control and inspection to get to me. Or the birds are just, like, so artificially plumped that they can’t even tell,” she speculates.

But Godvin doesn’t blame the restaurant. She notes that the wings were sold as chicken wings and likely breaded and fried this without a clue that anything was wrong with the meat.

When Chicken Inspection Fails

What Godvin encountered in her chicken wing appears to be an abscess (though this is unconfirmed by an expert)—essentially a pus-filled infection that develops in chickens, often at their joints.

And here’s the thing: these aren’t supposed to make it to your plate.

Poultry inspectors are trained to identify and remove these during post-mortem processing, Cornell Cooperative Extension explains.

“If the tissue is pus-filled, it needs to be removed regardless of size,” Amy Barkley, a livestock specialist with Cornell, says.

So how does an infected chicken wing end up breaded and served at a restaurant? The answer lies in how chickens are raised and inspected.

The condition is called cellulitis—a bacterial infection that’s become increasingly common in commercial poultry. Poultry DVM explains that it’s usually caused by E. coli and occurs most often in fast-growing breeds, particularly those with poor mobility or living in crowded conditions. The infection creates exactly what Godvin described: yellowish pus and fluid-filled pockets under the skin or at the joints.

What makes it tricky is that many infected birds show no other visible symptoms and appear “reasonably well-grown,” making the infections easy to miss during inspection, The Poultry Site states. The chicken can look perfectly healthy on the outside while harboring an abscess inside.

While USDA inspection systems are designed to catch these issues, not all poultry goes through the same level of scrutiny. Birds processed under certain exemptions may not receive professional inspection at all, according to Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is clear about what consumers should do if they encounter an abscess: “Do not cut into abscesses or eat meat containing abscesses.”

Food Safety System Under Strain

Godvin’s discovery comes at a time when the nation’s food inspection system is facing unprecedented challenges. NPR reported that USDA food safety inspectors are now being asked to cover double their usual workload following significant staff reductions by the Trump administration.

Paula Soldner, who inspected meat and poultry plants in Wisconsin for 38 years before retiring last month, says remaining inspectors must now visit eight facilities per day—double the usual number.

Soldner, who chairs the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals representing some 6,500 inspectors, warns that consumers are now more vulnerable to contamination issues.

Sarah Sorscher, a policy expert at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the entire system is in crisis. “Our federal food safety system is teetering on the brink of a collapse,” she tells NPR.

The Trump administration also temporarily shuttered two of the FDA’s seven food testing labs, causing delays in seafood inspections and routine produce testing. While the labs have since reopened, Sorscher says damage has been done.

Commenters React

“I understand vegans more and more,” a top comment read.

“Pizza would never,” a person said.

“Sue everyone sue me sue the world,” another wrote.

BroBible reached out to Morgan Godvin for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message.