Hormel Foods 2014 Annual Report Download - page 34

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Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over finan-
cial 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 com-
pliance 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 October 26, 2014, 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 26, 2014 and October 27,
2013 and the related statements of operations, comprehensive
income, changes in shareholders’ investment and cash flows
for each of the three years in the period ended October 26,
2014, and our report dated December 17, 2014 expressed an
unqualified opinion thereon.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 17, 2014
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Hormel Foods Corporation
We have audited Hormel Foods Corporation’s internal control
over financial reporting as of October 26, 2014, 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 maintained in all
material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understand-
ing 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 circumstances. 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
transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(2) 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 (3) provide
reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detec-
tion 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