Free Water Restriction

A Healthier Happy Meal, but Still Toy-Free

McDonald's Corp. unveiled a healthier Happy Meal on Tuesday, but the changes won't be enough to allow toys to be included with the meals in San Francisco.

The  new nutritional guidelines , which McDonald's plans to adopt in all of its 14,000 restaurants nationwide starting in September, will slash the serving of French fries by more than half and add a quarter-cup of apple slices — without caramel dipping sauce.

According to the company, the new Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal will have 435 calories and 17 grams of fat, compared to the original 530 calories and 23 grams of fat.

But the roughly 20-percent reduction in calories isn't enough to comply with a law that San Francisco passed last year banning free toys in meals that fall short of certain nutritional standards — including a serving each of fruits and vegetables.

A quarter-cup of apple slices, or half a serving of fruit, is only half the amount called for by the law. And the new 1.1-ounce serving of French fries falls below the three-fourths cup of veggies required (yes, fries are considered a vegetable by the U.S. Department of Agriculture).

Santa Clara County passed a similar ordinance  last year; it was not immediately clear whether the new Happy Meals would meet that county's requirements.

McDonald's believes San Francisco's guidelines, which are scheduled to go into effect in December, are extreme, The Wall Street Journal reported . The company's USA President Jan Fields called the toy the "most fun part" and postulated that adding vegetables to Happy Meals would “probably exceed what a child would be willing to eat."

Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the restriction of toys in San Francisco, has criticized the efforts of the company as "definitely not enough."

"I always thought that McDonald should not be serving soft drinks and French fries as the default," March said. "Food should be the default sound options, such as apples, caramel sauce without soaking, and water or unsweetened drinks.

Town of Winnsboro Issues Mandatory Water Restrictions

The Town of Winnsboro has issued a mandatory water restriction because of drought conditions. This announcement comes on the heels of the Town’s voluntary restrictions issued only a month ago. The last time a mandatory restriction was issued by the Town was in September of 2007, according to Beth Bonds of the Winnsboro Water Department.

In a letter issued Monday by Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy, public water customers served by the Town of Winnsboro Water System are hereby informed that the Town of Winnsboro has implemented mandatory water conservation measures in an effort to relieve drought conditions in our area.

Because of below average rainfall, low reservoir levels and increasing water consumption demands, the Town of Winnsboro Water System and its wholesale water customers have issued a mandatory water restrictions order. These restrictions include:

1. For landscape maintenance, the use of low volume, handheld water applications are encouraged. Water customers are asked to limit the use of sprinklers, irrigation systems or other remote landscape watering devices.

2. Customers may hand water at any time of day. The Town requests that customers use low volume sprayers and hand water early in the morning or late at night to avoid evaporation.

3. Washing of vehicles or outdoor structures, pavement, parking lots or other surfaces is discouraged.

4. Customers are encouraged to postpone the planting of all new landscaping, including new sod.

5. Conservation by any available means is strongly suggested.

Public water customers served by the Town of Winnsboro Water System who have questions about these conservation measures may call 803-635-4121 and speak with either Jesse Douglas or Beth Bonds.

Mayo Clinic internal medicine review, 2006-2007

JAMA., The Journal of the American Medical Association

Clinical Anesthesia

Harrison's Nephrology and Acid-Base Disorders

Pocket Anesthesia