Burger King, the fantastic land where you can find weed and razor blades in your burger, will begin selling “Satisfries” Tuesday, a crinkle-cut french fry with 20 percent fewer calories than their regular french fries. A small order of Satisfries will contain 270 calories as opposed to a 350-calorie small order of their regular fatty-fat fries. 
 
 
 
 So what’s the difference between regular fries and Satisfries? 
 
 Burger King executives say people won't be able to tell that Satisfries are lower in calories. It says they use exactly the same ingredients as its regular fries — potatoes, oil and batter. To keep kitchen operations simple, they're even made in the same fryers and cooked for the same amount of time as regular fries. The difference, Burger King says, is that it adjusts the proportions of different ingredients for the batter to block out more oil. The company declined to be more specific. Another difference, the crinkle-cut shape, is in part so workers will be able to easily distinguish them from the regular fries when they're deep frying them together. 
 
 They will also cost more as a small order of Satisfries will be $1.89 compared to $1.59 for regular fries. 
 
 But there is good news for fry purists and everyone who will complain about the abomination that is “healthy” fast food: no one will ever order Satisfries because no self-respecting person will ever want to say “Satisfries” aloud. Ever. Fine, maybe in the drive-thru once, but only because no one will see you. 
 
 [Image via AP] 

 Burger King has tried all kinds of tweaks to its fries through the years; now it's cutting calories and fat. 
 
 Burger King's "Satisfries." (Photo: Noel Barnhurst, AP) Story Highlights Crinckle-cut 'Satisfries' have 30% less fat and 20% fewer calories than BK's classic fries 
 
 They will sell for 20 cents to 30 cents more than regular fries 
 
 If consumers like them, they could become a permanent menu item 
 
 McDonald's fries have always given Burger King heartburn — but watch out Ronald McDonald. 
 
 In a move destined to shake up the fast-food industry, Burger King Tuesday will unveil a simple but startling french fry innovation: french fries with 30% less fat and 20% fewer calories than BK's current fries. (And 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than McDonald's fries.) 
 
 They've dubbed the new product Satisfries — not to replace BK's classic fries, but to be sold in addition to them. And they will be crinkle-cut, like old-fashioned fries. 
 
 FRIES KING: Burger King touts faux name change 
 
 The move comes at a time consumers are increasingly demanding healthier options — even in so-called junk food. The low-cal, low-fat fries will cost 20 cents to 30 cents more per serving (except in Kids Meals, where there will be no price difference). All Burger Kings in North America will begin selling them Tuesday. 
 
 But here's the key: They essentially have the identical ingredients to BK's conventional fries. Same potatoes. Same oil. Same process. The only change is a re-configuring in the amount of a few ingredients — Burger King won't say what they are — so that less oil is absorbed by the thinner batter. 
 
 It could be Burger King's biggest innovation in years. Or it could be yet another BK french fry fiasco. Consumers will decide that at the cash register. 
 
 "Small changes create a big impact," says Alex Macedo, president of Burger King North America. "This will grow, just like diet soda grew over time." 
 
 The impact could be substantive since one of two Burger King guests orders fries, he says. That's roughly 56 million orders of fries every month. 
 
 A small serving of BK's Satisfries weighs in at 270 calories and 11 grams of fat vs. 340 calories and 15 grams of fat for a small serving of its classic fries. 
 
 "It's not realistic to ask people to replace french fries with carrots or celery sticks," says Keri Gans, a registered dietitian hired by Burger King. "This is like meeting people halfway." 
 
 But another registered dietitian, who is not being paid by Burger King, says consumers may get the wrong message from lower-cal fries. "You don't want people to fool themselves and actually increase the serving size because they think it's healthier," says Mitzi Dulan, author of the upcoming book The Pinterest Diet: How to Pin Your Way Thin. "French fries are an easy way to get a lot of calories and a lot of fat." 
 
 But one of Burger King's largest franchisees says he's sold on them. "I don't know of anything that can rival the innovative impact this product has," says Dan Fitzpatrick, who owns more than 160 Burger Kings. 
 
 Despite innovations in burgers and salads at Burger King in recent years, "The one area that hasn't seen a breakthrough is french fries," says Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer. That is, he says, until now. 
 
 CLOSE Burger King introduces the 'Satisfries,' lower-calorie french fries, to its fast food menu. The burger company says 'Satisfries' have 40% less fat and 30% less calories than a similar serving of McDonalds fries. Krystin Goodwin has the scoop. 
 
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 As people cut back on french fries, Burger King is going after what it calls "lapsed users" with new fries that promise fewer calories and less fat. 
 
 Burger King Worldwide Inc. Burger King's new french fries, which the chain calls 'Satisfries.' 
 
 On Tuesday, Miami-based Burger King Worldwide Inc. will roll out lower fat, lower-calorie fries at all U.S. locations. Called Satisfries, the fries have largely the same ingredients as Burger King's classic fries, but a less porous batter to keep out more oil during cooking, said Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer for Burger King North America. 
 
 The new fries are marketed as having 30% fewer calories and 40% less fat than McDonald's fries, the best-selling fries in the U.S. Burger King's smallest size of the new fries, called a value size, is 190 calories. The calorie claim is less significant compared with Burger King's classic fries, coming in at about 20% fewer calories and 25% less fat, said a spokeswoman for Burger King. 
 
 As people cut back on french fries, Burger King is going after what it calls "lapsed users" with new fries that promise fewer calories and less fat. Sarah Nassauer joins Lunch Break to taste-test the new menu item. Photo: Burger King. 
 
 Burger King hopes to please consumers who love fries but are cutting back on the snack for health reasons, said Mr. Hirschhorn. Overall U.S. french fry consumption in recent years has slowly decreased, said Harry Balzer, vice president at NPD Group, a consumer research firm that surveys eating behavior. Still, french fries are the second most ordered item at restaurants after soda, said Mr. Balzer. 
 
 Burger King gave the new fries a crinkle cut to "mitigate confusion" with its classic fries, which have a straight cut, Mr. Hirschhorn said. They will sell for about 25 cents more than Burger King's classic fries except in kids' meals. 
 
 The move is the latest in the high-margin, fast-food fries war, where tinkering with a beloved food can be risky. In the late '90s, Burger King reworked its french fry recipe, hoping to grab customers from McDonald's, only to see that version flop. It tinkered with the formula again in 2001. In 2011, Burger King changed its classic fries recipe yet again, making them slightly thicker and less salty. The year before, Wendy's replaced its fries with "Natural-Cut" fries with sea salt and potato skin left on. 
 
 McDonald's Corp. doesn't have a history of tinkering with its fries recipe. The burger chain announced it would reduce to trans-fats in its fry recipe in 2002; the company didn't fully eliminate trans fats until 2008. Company executives said at the time that the delay was necessary to find an oil that didn't alter the taste of its fries. 
 
 In recent years, fast-food restaurants have added a raft of premium-priced items like smoothies and oatmeal to menus to draw in more health-conscious consumers and appease heath advocates taking aim at processed food manufactures. None have become top sellers. 
 
 At Burger King, items like salads, smoothies and wraps "are doing real well, but they pale in comparison to french fries," in terms of consumption, Mr. Hirshhorn said. 
 
 To avoid retrofitting thousands of restaurants, the new fries "had to be operationally the same," said Alex Macedo, president of North America for Burger King. Satisfries are prepared in the same way as classic fries, cooked in the same oil and fryers for about three minutes, he said. 
 
 When it comes to calorie counts, fried foods can be among the most difficult to accurately predict, as small changes in frying temperature and other variables can drastically alter the amount of high-calorie oil absorbed by the food, said Nicole Ring, director of nutrition for Healthy Dining, a San Diego-based firm that compiles calorie information for restaurants using computer software. (The company doesn't work with Burger King, she said.) Burger King extensively tested the calorie claims on it new fries, Mr. Hirschhorn said. 
 
 The new fries will be produced by McCain Foods Ltd., based in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada, which makes fries for McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King. 
 
 —Julie Jargon contributed 
 
 to this article. 
 
 Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com 
 
 A version of this article appeared September 24, 2013, on page B4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Burger King Tries New Fries. 

 While French fries are a staple of the fast-food burger business, they have long been vilified by nutrition experts as little more than vehicles for adding fat, salt and calories to diets. 
 
 Now Burger King has come up with a fry that it says delivers about 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than the fries sold by its archenemy McDonald’s. Burger King says that 70 grams of its new fries, named Satisfries, has 150 calories, while the same amount of McDonald’s fries has 226 calories. 
 
 “You live in Manhattan and might be having a kale smoothie on your way to work this morning,” said Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer for Burger King, the nation’s No. 3 hamburger chain after McDonald’s and Wendy’s. “But a lot of people don’t even know what kale is, and if they do, they don’t want to eat it. You have to give people what they want.” 
 
 Burger King, which has struggled as a series of owners traded it like a baseball card, was late to try to improve the nutritional quality of its food. 
 
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 But under its newest owner, the private equity group 3G Capital, the chain has invested time and money in retooling its menu over the last two years, adding choices like cranberry apple salads and mango smoothies and taking one of two slices of cheese off its burgers in the biggest changes to its menu since opening in 1954. 
 
 “Behavior doesn’t change as quick as attitudes,” Mr. Hirschhorn said. “It’s easy to put things on a menu and check off the box, but the reality is that nobody buys them.” 
 
 Roughly a decade ago, McDonald’s began using a soy-corn blend of fats instead of beef tallow to cook its fries in an effort to reduce saturated fats. . 
 
 More than 100 million customers eat in a Burger King store each month, and 56 million of them order fries. While the chain had made minor adjustments, offering healthier sweet potato fries and curly fries, nothing matched the scale of reinventing the fries. 
 
 French fries served in fast-food settings are coated with a thin batter that seals in flavor and moisture and enhances exterior crunch. Burger King spent the last two years working with McCain Foods, its French fry supplier, to develop a batter that was less porous and would therefore absorb less fat in the frying process. 
 
 The new fries will be crinkled, so that Burger King staff can distinguish them from their full-fat cousins, which will continue to be sold. The chain’s meals for children will offer them at no extra charge, but Burger King is recommending that its franchisees add 20 cents to 30 cents to the price for adults. 
 
 “On its own, this may seem like a small step,” Mr. Hirschhorn said. “But we think it can add up to something big.”
– Burger King is hoping to lure back hungry-but-calorie-conscious customers with a new menu item: low-fat fries. The chain says the "Satisfries" being introduced across the country today have 20% fewer calories than its regular fries—and 30% fewer than McDonald's fries, reports the Wall Street Journal. The new fries, crinkle-cut to distinguish them from regular fries, will cost 20 cents to 30 cents more than Burger King's other fries, except in kids' meals. Burger King says the new fries are cooked with the same ingredients and in the same way as its regular fries, but it spent two years working with supplier McCain Foods to come up with the lower-calorie batter, the New York Times reports. "It's not realistic to ask people to replace french fries with carrots or celery sticks," a dietitian hired by Burger King tells USA Today. "This is like meeting people halfway." The chain believes the new fries could have as big an impact as diet soda, but Lacey Donohue at Gawker isn't having it: "No one will ever order Satisfries because no self-respecting person will ever want to say 'Satisfries' aloud," she predicts.