Founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, the Wendy's restaurant chain offers hamburgers, chicken, salads, desserts and side dishes. The marketing team promotes the company as a restaurant chain that uses only the freshest ingredients. Anyone who wants to lose weight or follow special dietary restrictions should learn about the nutrition content of Wendy's foods to make the best decisions when dining out.
Significance
Regularly consuming high-calorie, high-fat foods increases the risk for obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension recommends eating no more than 60 g of fat each day if you follow a 1,800-calorie diet. Nine of the sandwiches offered by Wendy's contain at least 20 g of fat, or one-third of the daily recommended intake. The Baconator double and the triple with everything and cheese top the list of high-fat sandwiches, with a total of 63 g of fat per sandwich.
Nutrition Facts
Wendy's sells 19 sandwiches with calorie counts ranging from 230 calories for the junior hamburger to 1,030 calories for the triple with everything and cheese. This restaurant also serves several desserts made with dairy products and toppings such as Oreo cookie pieces, M&Ms candies and cookie dough chunks. These desserts contain 310 to 560 calories and anywhere from 7 to 20 g of fat. Wendy's changed their fry recipe in 2010. The new fries consist of russet potatoes sprinkled with sea salt. CBS News reporter David Freeman revealed that the sea salt is no better than regular salt. In fact, the new recipe increased the sodium content of the medium fries by 150 mg.
Misconceptions
Some people order Wendy's salads under the assumption that salads are healthier than burgers and fries. Some of the salads offered by this chain contain more calories and fat than a junior cheeseburger. The baja salad has 550 calories and 33 g of fat, the BLT Cobb salad has 460 calories and 26 g of fat, and the spicy chicken Caesar salad has 450 calories and 25 g of fat. Additional salad dressings increase the calorie count and fat content of these salads. The Thousand Island dressing, for example, has 160 calories and 15 g of fat.
Healthier Options
Wendy's does offer several low-calorie items with less fat than the sandwiches and desserts. The garden side salad has only 25 calories and no fat. Adding croutons to the salad increases the calorie count to 80 and adds 3 g of fat to the meal. Another no-fat option is the mandarin orange cup, which has 90 calories. Those who want a high-protein meal should consider the small serving of chili. It has 18 g of protein, 220 calories and 7 g of fat.
Considerations
Those with food allergies should use caution when ordering from any fast food restaurant. Wendy's makes it easier to dine out by providing information on gluten-free menu options and other food allergens. Those with gluten sensitivity can order the plain hamburger patty, mandarin orange cup, ultimate chicken grill fillet, garden side salad without croutons, Caesar side salad without croutons or chili. The chili, garden side salad without croutons, mandarin orange cup and plain baked potato are the only food items that do not contain any egg, fish, soy, milk, wheat, peanuts or tree nuts.
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