Today: Some businesses are bracing for fallout as MAHA has helped spur concerns about contaminants in food and packaging; Tesla and LG bet on U.S. batteries with a $4.3 billion Michigan plant; investigators say Chinese cobalt plant sickened Congo town amid electric-vehicle battery surge.

Welcome back: Many people are spending more time thinking about what they’re ingesting, and food companies are monitoring changing eating habits more closely, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson writes.

Food, beverage and restaurant companies said in recent investor reports that they expect more demand from consumers to keep certain chemicals out of their products, and policy changes calling on them to do so.

• The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain said consumer demand generally could be harmed by “emerging consumer sentiments” about forever chemicals, microplastics and heavy metals in the food supply.
• Mondelez said officials highlighting risks from certain ingredients, additives “or contaminants allegedly present in the larger food or water supply, may affect ... demand for some of our products.”
• Texas Roadhouse said heightened scrutiny “of substances associated with food and food packages” could lead to supplier disruptions, lawsuits, reputational harm or new regulatory requirements.
• Hershey in its 10-K pointed to the MAHA movement and said it could shift “consumer expectations and behavior.”​

While worries about harmful chemicals getting into crops and other food may have once been seen as an issue for the political left, the Make America Healthy Again movement has widened the base of those paying attention.

• Companies say President Trump’s climate overhaul makes it tough to frame their future emissions plans. (WSJ)

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A Michigan battery factory once meant for General Motors’ electric vehicles has a new partner: Tesla.

The Journal's Christopher Otts reports that LG Energy Solution, the battery unit of Korean electronics giant LG, said it would produce battery cells for Tesla’s fast-growing energy-storage business at a new factory in Lansing, Mich., in a $4.3 billion tie-up between the two companies. The cells will eventually power utilities and artificial-intelligence data centers.

As U.S. EV demand dropped off and federal incentives were pulled back, automakers took financial hits in the tens of billions of dollars. Automakers and battery companies have rushed to repurpose EV battery plants to serve the fast-growing market in utility-scale energy storage.

Large, stationary batteries are in demand as tech companies build data centers, which have vast energy demands. Utilities use them to manage energy loads or as a complement to renewable sources like solar and wind.

• U.S. EV fast-charging sites grew by roughly 70% in 2025, but the U.S. lags behind China in charging speed, which can take minutes. (WSJ)
• Growing global adoption of electric vehicles helped avoid the consumption of 2.3 million barrels of oil per day last year. (Bloomberg)

Emissions from a Chinese cobalt-processing plant in central Africa sickened residents and workers as the company increased production of a mineral critical to making electric-car batteries, according to an investigation by a Washington environmental group, the WSJ's Caroline Kimeu reports

Health workers near CMOC Group’s cobalt-processing plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo said they saw a surge of local townspeople coughing up blood, suffering recurring nosebleeds, and experiencing coughs and chest pain. Symptoms, which toxicology experts associate with sulfur-dioxide exposure, were worst among people living closest to the processing plant, the report from the Environmental Investigation Agency said.

CMOC is the world’s-largest cobalt producer. Most of the company’s cobalt, which is extracted during copper mining, goes to China and Europe, where it is made into battery cells and exported to Europe and North America. Major automakers including Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot use cobalt from CMOC’s Congolese mines, according to EIA.

In response to questions, CMOC denied that its plant causes sulfur-dioxide pollution, or that its operations are behind local health issues.

• A Kenyan court dismissed a lawsuit by a Maasai leader who sought to demolish a Ritz-Carlton luxury safari camp, alleging it blocked a key route of the famous Serengeti migration. (WSJ)

• Sable Offshore resumed oil transportation through the Santa Ynez pipeline system following a Trump administration directive. (WSJ)
   
• Green-steel startup Boston Metal has suffered a major setback following an industrial accident at its facility in Brazil. (Canary Media)
   
• The energy shock caused by the Middle East war is forcing companies to rethink how they power their operations, said State Street chief. (FT)
   
• Corporate climate reporting is shifting to separate emission inventories from corporate interventions. (Trellis)
   
• Pakistan's adoption of solar power is helping cushion the impact of a surge in fossil fuel prices due to the Middle East war. (Bloomberg)
   
• Global delivery giant FedEx announced the launch of a new reusable packaging system aimed at B2B shippers. (ESG Today)
   
• La Mer claims the power of its $400 skin cream is unlocked in a lab where music is played to its kelp-based ‘Miracle Broth.’ (WSJ)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send your comments to editor Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at perrycp, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.