Hormel Foods 2011 Annual Report Download - page 33

3
1
Hormel Foods Corporation
M
anagement’s Respons
i
b
i
l
i
ty
f
or Financial Statement
s
The accompanyin
g
fi
nancial statements were prepared
by the mana
g
ement of Hormel Foods
C
orporation which
is responsible for their inte
g
rity and objectivity. These
s
tatements have been prepared in accordance with U.
S
.
generally accepted accounting principles appropriate in
the circumstances and, as such, include amounts that are
based on our best estimates and judgments.
H
ormel Foods Cor
p
oration has develo
p
ed a system of
internal controls designed to assure that the records re
fl
ect
the transactions of the Com
p
any and that the established
pol
i
c
i
es and procedures are adhered to. Th
i
s system
i
s
au
g
mented by well-commun
i
cated wr
i
tten pol
i
c
i
es and
procedures, a stron
g
pro
g
ram o
f
internal audit, and well
-
qualified personnel.
These financial statements have been audited b
y
Ernst
&
Y
oung LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm,
and their re
p
ort is included herein. The audit was conducted
in accordance with the standards of the Public Com
p
any
Accounting Oversight Board
(
United States
)
and includes a
review of the Company’s accounting and financial controls
and tests o
f
transactions
.
The Audit
C
ommittee of the Board of Directors, composed
s
olely o
f
outside directors, meets periodically with the
independent auditors, mana
g
ement, and the internal auditors
to assure that each is carryin
g
out its responsibilities. Both
E
rnst
&
Young LLP and our internal auditors have full and
f
ree access to the Audit
C
ommittee, with or without the
presence of management, to discuss the results of their
audit work and their o
p
inions on the ade
q
uacy o
f
internal
controls and the quality o
f
fi
nancial reporting.
REP
O
R
T
O
F MANAGE
M
E
N
T
M
anagement’s Report on Internal Control
O
v
er F
i
nanc
i
al Report
i
ng
M
ana
g
ement of Hormel Foods
C
orporation is responsible
f
or establishin
g
and maintainin
g
adequate internal control
over financial reportin
g
for the
C
ompany, as such term is
defined in Exchan
g
e Act Rule 13a–15(f). The Company’s
internal control system is designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
and the
p
re
p
aration of financial statements for external
purposes
i
n accordance w
i
th generally accepted account
i
ng
s
tandards. Under the su
p
erv
i
s
i
on, and w
i
th the
p
art
i
c
ip
at
i
on
o
f
management, including the chie
f
executive o
ffi
cer and
chie
f
fi
nancial o
ffi
cer
,
we conducted an evaluation o
f
the
e
ff
ectiveness o
f
our internal control over
fi
nancial reportin
g
based on the
f
ramework in Internal
C
ontrol – Inte
g
rate
d
Framework issued by the
C
ommittee of
S
ponsorin
g
O
r
g
anizations of the Treadway
C
ommission.
Based
o
n
ou
r
e
v
a
l
ua
ti
o
n
u
n
de
r th
e
fr
a
m
e
w
o
rk in Int
e
rn
al
C
ontrol – Integrated Framewor
k
,
we concluded that our
internal control over financial reporting was effective as of
October 30, 2011. Our internal control over financial reporting
as of October 30, 2011, has been audited by Ernst & Young
L
LP, an independent registered public accounting
fi
rm, as
s
tated
i
n the
i
r report wh
i
ch
i
s
i
ncluded here
i
n.
J
e
ff
rey M. Ettinger
Chairman of the Board
,
P
res
i
dent and
Chief Executive Officer
and D
i
rector
J
o
d
y
H
.
F
erage
n
E
x
ecu
t
i
v
e
V
ice
Pr
eside
nt
and Chief Financial Officer
and D
i
rector