Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 2 (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2012	Jul. 27, 2011	Apr. 29, 2012
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	$ 826,056,000		$ 845,728,000
Accumulated Amortization	(384,492,000)		(382,367,000)
Net	441,564,000		463,361,000
Amortization expense for trademarks and other intangible assets	7,700,000	8,000,000
Future amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets	31,000,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	997,900,000		1,035,300,000
Trademarks [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	272,493,000		282,937,000
Accumulated Amortization	(87,908,000)		(87,925,000)
Net	184,585,000		195,012,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	862,400,000		895,900,000
Licenses [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	208,186,000		208,186,000
Accumulated Amortization	(165,374,000)		(163,945,000)
Net	42,812,000		44,241,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	19,700,000		20,100,000
Recipes/processes [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	88,016,000		89,207,000
Accumulated Amortization	(36,378,000)		(35,811,000)
Net	51,638,000		53,396,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	115,800,000		119,300,000
Customer-related assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	210,187,000		216,755,000
Accumulated Amortization	(70,063,000)		(69,244,000)
Net	140,124,000		147,511,000
Other [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	47,174,000		48,643,000
Accumulated Amortization	(24,769,000)		(25,442,000)
Net	$ 22,405,000		$ 23,201,000