Wendy's new fries & giveaway!

As part of the Tastemaker program at Foodbuzz, I was sent a Wendy's giftcard to try out their new hand cut, skin on, sea salted fries. I've been offered other goodies before through the Tastemaker program, but this was the first time I've accepted one. Why? Because Wendy's is basically the only fast food restaurant chain I trust with gluten free options. And while we all like to avoid fast food as much as possible, sometimes you just gotta eat it, like on quick lunch breaks or road trips. If I'm driving through some small town, I actually enjoy seeing a Wendy's because at least I know they have some safe options, which is better than chancing it at some random spot.The beauty of fries at fast food places is that a lot of times they have a dedicated fryer, so that eliminates some cross contamination risk. You should confirm that of course wherever you're ordering fries from does. Now McDonalds still puts gluten in their fries regardless, so avoid those. In fact McDs adds gluten to just about everything - it really is remarkable in the worst way possible. But as long as your Wendy's has a separated fryer, you should be able safely eat their fries. Wendy's just launched "new" fries with the skin still on and using sea salt. I tried them today, and they are good if you like fries. They don't taste much different than before really, but they are saltier, which this saltaholic likes. They are also a bit pricier, with a small costing approximately $1.50. Sea salt probably makes them a tad better for you, but they are by no means healthy of course. A small serving has 320 calories & 15g fat with 3 being saturated. That being said, you could do a LOT worse eating there (a baconator double is over a 1000 cals).

If fries aren't your thing, Wendy's does post a list of gluten free items, and it includes baked potatoes, the chili, some salads, and more. Note that it does not include fries for the very reason I stated above: some restaurants do not have dedicated french fry fryers.

Do you want to try out the fries for yourself? Foodbuzz gave me an extra $10 giftcard to give away. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS feed & leave me a comment saying you did so, and I'll choose a winner at random next week. If you hate my blog, you can always unsubscribe. :)

Stay tuned. I'll have a Better Batter giveaway before the end of 2010!