Hormel Foods 2011 Annual Report Download - page 34

3
2Hormel Foods Corporation
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
(
3
)
provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detec
-
tion o
f
unauthorized ac
q
uisition, use or dis
p
osition o
f
the
com
p
any’s assets that could have a material e
ff
ect on the
fi
nancial statements.
B
ecause o
f
its inherent limitations
,
internal control over
fi
nancial reportin
g
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 chan
g
es in conditions, or that the
degree of compliance with the policies or procedures
ma
y
deteriorate.
I
n our o
p
inion, Hormel Foods Cor
p
oration maintained, in all
material res
p
ects, e
ff
ective internal control over
fi
nancial
reportin
g
as of October 30, 2011, based on the COSO criteria
.
We also have audited
,
in accordance with the standards o
f
the
P
ublic Company Accountin
g
Oversi
g
ht Board (United States),
the consolidated statements o
f
fi
nancial position o
f
Hormel
F
oods Corporation as of October
3
0, 2011 and October
3
1,
20
1
0
, and the related consolidated statements of o
p
erations,
changes in shareholders’ investment, and cash flows for each
of the three years in the
p
eriod ended October
3
0, 2011, and
our re
p
ort dated December 21, 2011, ex
p
ressed an un
q
ual
i
-
fi
ed o
p
inion thereon
.
Mi
nnea
p
ol
i
s, M
i
nnesota
D
ecember 21
,
2011
To
th
e
B
o
ar
d
of
Dir
ec
t
o
r
s
an
d
S
har
e
h
o
l
de
r
s
Hormel Foods
C
orporation
A
ustin, Minnesota
W
e have audited Hormel Foods Cor
p
oration’s internal control
o
ver financial reporting as of October 30, 2011, based on
c
r
i
ter
i
a establ
i
shed
i
n
I
nternal Control—Integrated Framework
i
ssued by the
C
ommittee of
S
ponsorin
g
O
r
g
anizations of the
T
readway Commission (the COSO criteria). Hormel Foods
C
orporation’s mana
g
ement is responsible for maintainin
g
e
ffective internal control over financial reportin
g
, and for
i
t
s
assess
m
e
nt
o
f th
e
e
ff
ec
tiv
e
n
ess
o
f int
e
rn
a
l
co
ntr
o
l
o
v
e
r
fi
nancial reporting included in the accompanying Report
o
f Management entitled Management’s Report on Internal
C
ontrol Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to
e
x
p
ress an o
pi
n
i
on on the com
p
any’s
i
nternal control over
fi
nancial reporting based on our audit.
W
e conducted our aud
i
t
i
n accordance w
i
th the standards
o
f the Public Company Accountin
g
Oversi
g
ht Board (United
S
tates). Those standards require that we plan and perform
t
h
e
aud
it t
o
ob
t
a
in r
easo
n
ab
l
e
assu
r
a
n
ce
abou
t wh
e
th
e
r
e
ffective internal control over financial reportin
g
was mai
n
-
t
ained in all material respects.
O
ur audit included obtainin
g
a
n understanding of internal control over financial reporting,
a
ssessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing
a
nd evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of
i
nternal control based on the assessed risk, and per
f
orming
such other
p
rocedures as we cons
i
dered necessary
i
n the c
ir
-
c
umstances. We bel
i
eve that our aud
i
t
p
rov
i
des a reasonable
b
asis
f
or our opinion.
A company’s internal control over
fi
nancial reportin
g
is a
p
rocess desi
g
ned to provide reasonable assurance re
g
ar
d
-
i
n
g
the reliability of financial reportin
g
and the preparation
o
f financial statements for external
p
ur
p
oses in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s
i
nternal control over financial reporting includes those
p
olicies and
p
rocedures that
(
1
)
p
ertain to the maintenance
of
records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and
f
airly
r
e
fl
ect the transactions and dis
p
ositions o
f
the assets o
f
the
c
om
p
any; (2)
p
rovide reasonable assurance that transactions
a
re recorded as necessary to permit preparation o
f
fi
nancial
statements
i
n accordance w
i
th
g
enerally accepted account
i
n
g
REP
O
RT
O
F IN
D
EPEN
D
E
NT REG
I
ST
E
R
E
D
P
U
B
L
I
C
A
C
C
OU
N
T
I
N
G F
I
RM