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Employee Benefits
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 26, 2020
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefits Employee benefitsThe Company sponsors a number of U.S. and foreign pension plans as well as other nonpension postretirement and postemployment plans to provide various benefits for its employees. These plans are described within the footnotes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Components of Company plan benefit expense for the periods presented are included in the tables below.
Pension
 Quarter endedYear-to-date period ended
(millions)September 26, 2020September 28, 2019September 26, 2020September 28, 2019
Service cost$9 $9 $27 $27 
Interest cost31 42 99 131 
Expected return on plan assets(87)(86)(257)(254)
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost1 1 5 5 
Recognized net (gain) loss7 23 64 34 
Net periodic benefit cost$(39)$(11)$(62)$(57)
Curtailment (gain) loss— (11)(7)(11)
Total pension (income) expense$(39)$(22)$(69)$(68)
Other nonpension postretirement
 Quarter endedYear-to-date period ended
(millions)September 26, 2020September 28, 2019September 26, 2020September 28, 2019
Service cost$2 $5 $9 $12 
Interest cost7 10 23 30 
Expected return on plan assets(24)(23)(70)(65)
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost(1)(2)(6)(6)
Recognized net (gain) loss— (55)— (55)
Net periodic benefit cost(16)(65)(44)(84)
Curtailment (gain) loss— (6)— (6)
Total postretirement benefit (income) expense$(16)$(71)$(44)$(90)
Postemployment
 Quarter endedYear-to-date period ended
(millions)September 26, 2020September 28, 2019September 26, 2020September 28, 2019
Service cost$1 $1 $3 $3 
Interest cost1 — 1 1 
Recognized net (gain) loss— (1)(2)(3)
Total postemployment benefit expense$2 $— $2 $1 

For the quarter and year-to-date periods ended September 26, 2020, the Company recognized a loss of $7 million and $15 million, respectively, related to the remeasurement of a U.S. pension plan as current year distributions are expected to exceed service and interest costs resulting in settlement accounting for that particular plan. The amount of the remeasurement recognized was due primarily to changes in the discount rate relative to the previous measurement.

During the second quarter of 2020, the Company recognized a curtailment gain of $7 million, as certain U.S. pension plan benefits were frozen for a portion of the population. The Company remeasured the benefit obligation for the impacted pension plan, resulting in a mark-to-market loss of $49 million. The loss was due primarily to a lower discount rate partially offset by plan asset returns in excess of the expected rate of return.

For the quarter and year-to-date periods ended September 28, 2019, the Company recognized a loss of $15 million and $26 million, respectively, related to the remeasurement of a U.S. pension plan as current year distributions were expected to exceed service and interest costs, resulting in settlement accounting for that particular plan. The amount of the remeasurement loss recognized was due primarily to an unfavorable change in the discount rate.

In conjunction with the completion of the sale of selected cookies, fruit and fruit-flavored snacks, pie crusts, and ice
cream cones businesses on July 28, 2019, the Company recognized curtailment gains in its U.S. pension and
nonpension postretirement plans of $11 million and $6 million, respectively, during the third quarter of 2019. Additionally, the Company was required to remeasure those plans. The Company recorded a mark-to-market loss of $8 million in our U.S. pension plan due to a lower discount rate and a reduction of the expected return on assets from 7.5% to 7.0% based on an updated target portfolio mix. These decreases were partially offset by better than expected asset returns. We recorded a mark-to-market gain of $55 million related to the remeasurement of a U.S. nonpension postretirement plan as a result of better than expected asset returns, partially offset by a lower discount rate and a reduction of the expected return on assets from 7.5% to 7.0% based on an updated target portfolio mix.

Company contributions to employee benefit plans are summarized as follows:
(millions)PensionNonpension postretirementTotal
Quarter ended:
September 26, 2020$1 $6 $7 
September 28, 2019$2 $5 $7 
Year-to-date period ended:
September 26, 2020$4 $15 $19 
September 28, 2019$6 $13 $19 
Full year:
Fiscal year 2020 (projected)$7 $19 $26 
Fiscal year 2019 (actual)$10 $18 $28 

Plan funding strategies may be modified in response to management's evaluation of tax deductibility, market conditions, and competing investment alternatives.

Multi-employer pension plan exit liability
During the third quarter of 2019, the Company incurred a pre-tax charge of $132 million due to withdrawing from
two multi-employer pension plans. The cash obligation was originally estimated to be approximately $8 million annually for 20 years. The net present value of the liability was determined using a risk free interest rate. The charge was recorded within COGS on the Consolidated Statement of Income and Other current liabilities and Other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet.
During the second quarter of 2020, the Company adjusted the estimated withdrawal liability associated with a plan withdrawn from during the third quarter of 2019. The adjustment resulted in a gain of $5 million during the second quarter and resulted from a July 2020 agreement with the plan under which the Company paid $7 million in full settlement of the withdrawal liability.