Personally I like this touch. I don't see why story characters can't have something interesting about them.
I honestly don't care much about giving him magic items to eat. I don't think of him as another player at my table, so I don't know about all these comparisons to kids making new characters. So far the game has been giving magic items with unique but not overpowered effects as well, so it hardly seems to make a difference.
Don't like Gale doing this? Then don't feed him. Live with the consequences and move on. It's D&D. Negative effects can and should also be interesting to RP through. (Obviously i'm aware that Larian is big on wargaming tactics compared to RP but the principle remains.).
