Kraft 2009 Annual Report Download - page 110

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Kraft Foods Inc.:
In our opinion, the consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statements of earnings, of equity and of cash flows appearing in Item
8 present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Kraft Foods Inc. and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2009 and December 31,
2008, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2009 in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company's management is responsible for
these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal
control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Report of Management on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our
responsibility is to express opinions on these financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our
integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of
material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the
financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing
the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our
audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk
that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk.
Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide
a reasonable basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for uncertain tax positions
and the timing of its annual goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment tests in 2007, the manner in which it accounts for defined
benefit pension and other postretirement plans in 2008, and the manner in which it accounts for inventories and noncontrolling interests in 2009.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance
that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and
directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or
disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any
evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that
the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
Chicago, Illinois
February 16, 2010
107
Source: KRAFT FOODS INC, 10-K, February 25, 2010 Powered by Morningstar® Document Research℠