Four quick news tidbits

Bagging bags in Calif.
Restaurants in California’s Santa Clara County will be forbidden to provide plastic bags for takeout, delivery or leftovers after April 22, an apparent first for the industry.

The plastic-bag giveaway ban, which has been in effect since January for supermarkets and c-stores, is intended to cut litter. Proponents had argued that the measure would also protect sea animals from ingesting bags that blow out to sea. Before the law was extended to include restaurants, proponents cited research indicating that 75% fewer bags were blowing onto the county’s beaches.

The hope is that consumers will get into the habit of bringing their own reusable bag to establishments, a common practice for retail shoppers in many parts of Europe.

Santa Clara was one of the first jurisdictions in the country to ban polystyrene takeout containers.

Eat your greens, Jared
Look for Subway units in New York to try tossed-to-order chopped salads. The lunchtime entrees, prepared while customers walk down a line to specify what they want in the salad, are supplanting sandwiches as the lunchtime staple for Manhattan office workers. You can now even get one from a Duane Reade drugstore.

Another seafood item for McD’s
McDonald’s, meanwhile, is widely reported to be working on a second seafood item, a shareable product called Fish McBites, patterned after Chicken McBites. The only other fish item on the burger giant’s menu is the Filet-O-Fish.

Hand me another For Sale sign
Add Checkers/Rally’s to the list of restaurant chains that are being shopped around. Other brands on the block reportedly include Mimi’s Café, Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Houlihan’s and Taco Bueno.