Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 2 (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Oct. 28, 2012	Oct. 26, 2011	Oct. 28, 2012	Oct. 26, 2011	Apr. 29, 2012
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	$ 847,662,000		$ 847,662,000		$ 845,728,000
Accumulated Amortization	(395,139,000)		(395,139,000)		(382,367,000)
Net	452,523,000		452,523,000		463,361,000
Amortization expense for trademarks and other intangible assets	7,700,000	8,800,000	15,400,000	16,800,000
Future amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets			31,000,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	1,000,000,000		1,000,000,000		1,040,000,000
Trademarks [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	289,502,000		289,502,000		282,937,000
Accumulated Amortization	(90,890,000)		(90,890,000)		(87,925,000)
Net	198,612,000		198,612,000		195,012,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	864,200,000		864,200,000		895,900,000
Licenses [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	208,186,000		208,186,000		208,186,000
Accumulated Amortization	(166,807,000)		(166,807,000)		(163,945,000)
Net	41,379,000		41,379,000		44,241,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	19,900,000		19,900,000		20,100,000
Recipes/processes [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	88,743,000		88,743,000		89,207,000
Accumulated Amortization	(37,668,000)		(37,668,000)		(35,811,000)
Net	51,075,000		51,075,000		53,396,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	118,200,000		118,200,000		119,300,000
Customer-related assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	212,963,000		212,963,000		216,755,000
Accumulated Amortization	(74,008,000)		(74,008,000)		(69,244,000)
Net	138,955,000		138,955,000		147,511,000
Other [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	48,268,000		48,268,000		48,643,000
Accumulated Amortization	(25,766,000)		(25,766,000)		(25,442,000)
Net	$ 22,502,000		$ 22,502,000		$ 23,201,000