Perhaps unhappy with the fourth place finish of its french fries in the annual Zagat fast food survey, Wendy’s has recently begun testing a new recipe for fries that goes along with the company’s new emphasis on “real” ingredients.

According to Rick Allen, a food blogger in Ocala, FL, one of a handful of test markets for the fries:

The Natural Fries are skin-on strips of real potato with nothing else added to them, then cooked in a special blend of oils developed just for these fries. To top it off, they’re sprinkled with sea salt, which comes from evaporating sea water, rather than table salt, mined from underground rock salt deposits and processed to add magnesium carbonate to prevent caking and iodine, a nutrient necessary for proper functioning of our bodies.

“This is all part of a strategy to raise the bar,” said a rep for the fast food chain. “We know customers are looking for new things.”

So how have they been testing? One manager in Florida says, “They’ve been getting overwhelmingly rave reviews. I think we’ve had only one negative so far.”

Have any Consumerist readers had a chance to sample these Natural Fries from Wendy’s? We’d love to hear from you. They are apparently being tested in markets in North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, so keep your eyes –and taste buds — open.

It’s a natural: Ocala tests Wendy’s fries; Tommy’s east now open [Ocala.com]

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