Dissecting Wendy's Baconator Burger at International Bacon Day

To mark International Bacon Day, September 18th, Wendy's exuded via email this week:

"Celebrate International Bacon Day with the spokescheeseburger for bacon, Wendy's Baconator. And to make things extra festive, Wendy's is kicking things off with our new collection of bacon-themed desktop, mobile and tablet wallpapers. Download one now!

"... check out the all-new Baconator fan page on Facebook. Who better to recognize bacon greatness than the Wendy's Baconator with its six strips of Applewood Smoked Bacon?"

Never one to miss a sacred, food-related holiday,  I thought I'd learn more about what one enthusiast dubbed "the tastiest sandwich known to man."   After all, the vibrant, healthy actors in Wendy's commercials make savoring the Baconator seem like a hoot-and-a-half to snack on (up to midnight!):



Ingredients of Wendy International's profitable pride and U.S. fast-food joy, the Baconator Double, are:

• Two quarter pound beef patties (seasoned with salt)
• Six slices of bacon (cured with  water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphates, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite)
• A "premium buttered, toasted" white bread bun 
• Two slices of American cheese (includes sodium citrate, salt, sodium phosphate, artificial color)
• Mayonnaise (includes high fructose corn syrup, distilled vinegar, salt, calcium disodium EDTA)
• Catsup (includes high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, salt)

The white-bread bun boasts a long, long list of chemical mystery ingredients. Optionals include the healthier stuff: tomato, lettuce, red onion, and crinkle-cut pickles (preserved in salt, vinegar, lactic acid, sodium benzoate, natural flavors, polysorbate 80). 

Nutritional count for Wendy's Baconator Double is:

• 970 calories (more than two deep-fried Twinkies)
• 570 calories from fat
• 210 mgs of cholestrol (equal to four cups of ice cream)
• 40 grams of carbs
• 2,020 mgs of sodium, which is salt (more than two large tubs of popcorn at Regal movie theaters) 

Hmmmm..... never mind! 

It's well-known that I love scrumptious food. And I love a celebration... any fun, life-affirming celebration.   But I'd also like to live a long, healthy life. 

Too many Baconators, and the only healthy result would be the fat corporate coffers of Wendy's International, Inc., parent company of Wendy's and Arby's, a modern industrial corporation that sold $3.4 billion of fast food in 2010. 

I think I'll mark International Bacon Day with a delicious strip or two of bacon on a salad, instead.