Wendy’s sweet and low

FAST-FOOD salads are, by and large, awful. Most are a thin layer of tasty toppings covering a bland bowl of lettuce with a small packet of funky dressing. You order one, eat the toppings, trash the lettuce and wait six months till you get suckered into trying another one.

Wendy’s track record with salads is better than some. It sells two good small side salads and chops the lettuce in store (many others serve pre-cut lettuce). However, when it comes to large salads, Wendy’s often falls short.

Through at least mid-March, Wendy’s is offering a Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad, which sounds promising enough. It starts with lettuce, topped with diced chicken and mandarin orange slices, then you get a packet of “berry balsamic vinaigrette” and a second packet filled with dried cranberries and crushed pecans to pour on top. Does it live up to its promising premise?

weekend@latimes.com

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Wendy’s Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Taste*

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You expect a salad with cranberries to be sweet, but this borders on sugar shock. The cranberries and orange slices are processed with added sugar, and the pecans are coated with brown sugar. The dressing contains high fructose corn syrup, raspberries, blueberry juice and even more sugar. Even the chicken meat is seasoned with sugar. Is this supposed to be salad or dessert?

Diet Watch***

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This salad weighs in at a modest 350 calories, despite having more sugar than an 18-inch Pixy Stix. (It’s true: Wendy’s salad has 34 grams of sugar, while a Wonka’s Giant Pixy Stix, only 26.) If you’re dieting, a 350-calorie meal will probably work for you; just avoid the temptation of supplementing your salad with a large fries and a Frosty.

Portability**

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Like most fast-food salads, it’s packaged for portability but not practicality. Stuffed into its tight, plastic container, the salad won’t spill, but when you reach your dining destination, it’s impossible to toss without spilling everything everywhere.

Hype-o-meter***

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In a marketing promotion, customers can take their salad receipt to a Curves fitness center for a free two-week trial membership. One imagines that this is geared more for women than men, but then, how many guys are going to eat a salad when Wendy’s other new limited-time offering -- a double-meat Mozzarella Lovers’ Burger -- sounds so much manlier?

* Ratings are on a scale of zero (lowest) to four (best).