Is Wendy's a Healthy Place to Eat?

"Where's the beef?" Where it always was: stuck in between two buns, dripping meat juice on your chin. But it's a good question nowadays at Wendy's, which has steadily moved into more adventuresome and beef-less menu items, like the big-selling Mandarin Chicken Salad. Wendy's diverse menu offers a wide range of salutary options, and a few that could make Fat Albert blanch.

If taste is no object

A plain baked potato, loaded with potassium and vitamin C, delivers a virtually fat-free lunch. Go ahead a put a little margarine on it-you'll still only have seven grams of fat and the same amount of calories as a small hamburger. But don't fall off the wagon by piling on the sour cream.

Better than you thought

Wendy's large chili weighs in at three-quarters of a pound and offers a filling lunch at 310 calories. Yet it's low in fat (only 10 grams) and high in

fiber, thanks to the kidney beans. Saltines are a good meal extender at 25 calories a pack with virtually no fat.

You knew it was bad for you

The Big Bacon Classic is definitely big, comprising a quarter-pound hamburger, bacon, cheese, and fixin's. But the only thing classic about this sandwich is its bell-ringing amount of calories (570), not to mention fat (29 grams), cholesterol (100 milligrams), and sodium (1,460 milligrams).

But not this bad

The real gutbuster on the Wendy's menu isn't a sandwich, it's the potato- jacketed caloric bomb known as the Chili & Cheese Baked Potato. With twice the calories (630) of a plain baked potato and double the fat (24 grams) of even a potato with margarine and sour cream, this spud has been adulterated almost beyond recognition.