California lawmaker Jesse Gabriel influencing food policy nationwide

California legislator Jesse Gabriel has made a name for himself with a suite of bills aimed at reducing the health harms of ultra-processed food. So it might seem counterintuitive that inside his office is a pillow shaped like a bag of Skittles, complete with the brand’s iconic upside-down rainbow and a few oversized felt candies peeking through a clear plastic window. 

“It’s an inside joke,” Gabriel explained one recent afternoon over Zoom, speaking from his office in downtown Sacramento. His staff gave him the pillow after he introduced a bill in 2023 that opponents dubbed, inaccurately, the “Skittles ban.” In fact, Skittles remain alive and well since his California Food Safety Act was signed into law, prohibiting the use of four additives (including brominated vegetable oil and potassium bromate) that have been linked to higher risk of cancer, reproductive problems, and other health issues. And the Food and Drug Administration eventually followed California’s lead by taking action on all four additives.

Gabriel was elected to the California State Assembly in 2018, but it’s only in the last few years that he’s emerged as a leader on the national stage in the fight against ultra-processed food. Since the 2023 food additives law, he’s been the force behind another state law banning six artificial food dyes, as well as one establishing the first U.S. legal definition of ultra-processed foods and banning those foods from school meals.