Hormel Foods 2013 Annual Report Download - page 34

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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 inad-
equate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, Hormel Foods Corporation maintained, in all
material respects, effective internal control over financial
reporting as of December 18, 2013, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States),
the consolidated statements of financial position of Hormel
Foods Corporation as of October 27, 2013 and October 28,
2012, and the related consolidated statements of operations,
comprehensive income, changes in shareholders’ investment,
and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
October 27, 2013, and our report dated December 18, 2013,
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Minneapolis, MN
December 18, 2013
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Hormel Foods Corporation
We have audited Hormel Foods Corporation’s internal control
over financial reporting as of October 27, 2013, based on
criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (1992 framework) (the COSO criteria).
Hormel Foods Corporation’s management is responsible 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 entitled Management’s Report on Internal
Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to
express an opinion on the company’s internal control over
financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards
of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States). Those standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
effective internal control over financial reporting was main-
tained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining
an understanding of internal control over financial reporting,
assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing
and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of
internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing
such other procedures as we considered necessary in the cir-
cumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
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 inter-
nal control over financial reporting includes those policies and
procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that,
in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transac-
tions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as nec-
essary to permit preparation of financial statements in accor-
dance 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 (3) provide reasonable assur-
ance 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.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm