DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 24, 2017
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Consolidated Financial Statements	Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements The accompanying unaudited consolidated and combined financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal and recurring adjustments unless otherwise disclosed) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 24, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 25, 2016. Pilgrim’s operates on a 52/53-week fiscal year that ends on the Sunday falling on or before December 31. The reader should assume any reference we make to a particular year (for example, 2017) in the notes to these Condensed Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements applies to our fiscal year and not the calendar year. On September 8, 2017, a subsidiary of the Company acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Granite Holdings Sàrl and its subsidiaries (together, “Moy Park”) from JBS S.A. in a common-control transaction. For the period from September 30, 2015 through September 7, 2017, the condensed consolidated and combined financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries combined with the accounts of Moy Park. For the period from September 8, 2017 through September 24, 2017, the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries, including Moy Park. We eliminate all significant affiliate accounts and transactions upon consolidation. The Condensed Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP using management’s best estimates and judgments. These estimates and judgments affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of the contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. The estimates and judgments will also affect the reported amounts for certain revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates and judgments. Significant estimates made by the Company include the allowance for doubtful accounts, reserves related to inventory obsolescence or valuation, useful lives of long-lived assets, goodwill, valuation of deferred tax assets, insurance accruals, valuation of pension and other postretirement benefits obligations, income tax accruals, certain derivative positions and valuations of acquired businesses.
Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations	The functional currency of the Company's U.S. and Mexico operations and certain holding-company subsidiaries in Luxembourg, the U.K. and Ireland is the U.S. dollar. The functional currency of its U.K. operations is the British pound. The functional currency of the Company's operations in France, the Netherlands and Ireland is the euro. For foreign currency- denominated entities other than the Company's Mexico operations, translation from local currencies into U.S. dollars is performed for most assets and liabilities using the exchange rates in effect as of the balance sheet date. Income and expense accounts are remeasured using average exchange rates for the period. Adjustments resulting from translation of these financial records are reflected as a separate component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Balance Sheets. For the Company's Mexico operations, remeasurement from the Mexican peso to U.S. dollars is performed for monetary assets and liabilities using the exchange rate in effect as of the balance sheet date. Remeasurement is performed for non-monetary assets using the historical exchange rate in effect on the date of each asset’s acquisition. Income and expense accounts are remeasured using average exchange rates for the period. Net adjustments resulting from remeasurement of these financial records are reflected in either Cost of sales or Foreign currency transaction loss, depending on the nature of the transaction, in the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Statements of Income. The Company reported an adjustment resulting from the translation of a British pound-denominated note payable owed to JBS S.A. as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 24, 2017. The Company designated this note payable as a hedge of its net investment in Moy Park. The Company or its subsidiaries may use derivatives for the purpose of mitigating exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Foreign currency transaction gains or losses are reported in the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Statements of Income.
Revenue Recognition	Revenue Recognition We recognize revenue when all of the following circumstances are satisfied: (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) price is fixed or determinable, (iii) collectability is reasonably assured and (iv) delivery has occurred. Delivery occurs in the period in which the customer takes title and assumes the risks and rewards of ownership of the products specified in the customer’s purchase order or sales agreement. Revenue is recorded net of estimated incentive offerings including special pricing agreements, promotions and other volume-based incentives. Revisions to these estimates are charged back to net sales in the period in which the facts that give rise to the revision become known.
Book Overdraft	Book Overdraft The majority of the Company’s disbursement bank accounts are zero balance accounts where cash needs are funded as checks are presented for payment by the holder. Checks issued pending clearance that result in overdraft balances for accounting purposes are classified as accounts payable and the change in the related balance is reflected in operating activities on the Condensed Consolidated and Combined Statements of Cash Flows.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued new accounting guidance on revenue recognition, which provides for a single five-step model to be applied to all revenue contracts with customers. The new standard also requires additional financial statement disclosures that will enable users to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows relating to customer contracts. Companies have an option to use either a retrospective approach or cumulative effect adjustment approach to implement the standard. In June 2015, the FASB agreed to defer by one year the mandatory effective date of this standard, but will also provide entities the option to adopt the new guidance as of the original effective date. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2018 fiscal year, but we had the option to adopt the guidance as early as the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year. We have elected to adopt this standard as of January 1, 2018, the beginning of our 2018 fiscal year, using the modified retrospective approach. Under this method, we would not restate the prior financial statements presented; however, we would be required to provide additional disclosures of the amount by which each financial statement line item is affected in the current reporting period during 2018, as compared to the prior guidance. We are finalizing our assessment of contracts with customers and evaluating the impact of the new guidance on these contracts. Additionally, our evaluation includes the impact of the new standard on certain common practices currently employed by us, such as slotting fees, discounts, rebates and other pricing allowances, and marketing funds. Although we are still evaluating the impact, we do not currently expect the new guidance to have a material impact on our financial statements beyond additional disclosure requirements. In July 2015, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on the subsequent measurement of inventory, which, in an effort to simplify unnecessarily complicated accounting guidance that can result in several potential outcomes, requires an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. Current accounting guidance requires an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost or market. Market could be replacement cost, net realizable value, or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. The provisions of the new guidance were effective as of the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year. The initial adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our financial statements. In February 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on lease arrangements, which, in an effort to increase transparency and comparability among organizations utilizing leasing, requires an entity that is a lessee to recognize the assets and liabilities arising from leases on the balance sheet. This guidance also requires disclosures about the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. In transition, the entity is required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2019 fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements and have not yet selected an adoption date. In March 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on employee share-based payments, which, in an effort to simplify unnecessarily complicated aspects of accounting and reporting for share-based payment transactions, requires an entity to amend accounting and reporting methodology for areas such as the income tax consequences of share-based payments, classification of share-based awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification of share-based payment transactions in the statement of cash flows. The transition approach will vary depending on the area of accounting and reporting methodology to be amended. The Company adopted this standard on December 26, 2016, the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year, and will prospectively present excess tax benefits or deficiencies in the income statement as a component of “Provision for income taxes” rather than in the “Equity” section of the Balance Sheet. As part of the adoption, the Company did not have a cumulative-effect adjustment, as there were no previous unrecognized excess tax benefits that would impact retained earnings. As a result, there was no retrospective adjustment to the prior period statement of cash flows of excess tax benefits as an operating activity rather than a financing activity. In June 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on the measurement of credit losses on financial instruments, which, in an effort to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments, replaces the current incurred loss impairment methodology with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The amendments affect loans, debt securities, trade receivables, net investments in leases, off-balance sheet credit exposures, reinsurance receivables and any other financial assets not excluded from the scope that have the contractual right to receive cash. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2020 fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted after our 2018 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements and have not yet selected an adoption date. In November 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on the classification and presentation of restricted cash in the statement of cash flows in order to eliminate the diversity that currently exists in how companies present these changes. The new guidance requires restricted cash to be included with cash and cash equivalents when explaining the changes in cash in the statement of cash flows. We elected to early adopt this guidance as of December 26, 2016, the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year. An entity should apply the new guidance on a retrospective basis, wherein the statement of cash flow of each individual period presented should be adjusted to reflect the period-specific effects of applying the new guidance. Upon transition, an entity is required to comply with the applicable disclosures for a change in an accounting principle. These disclosures include the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, a description of the prior-period information that has been retrospectively adjusted and the effect of the change on the financial statement line items. A description of the prior-period information that has been retrospectively adjusted and the effect of the change on the statement of cash flow line items is not disclosed as it is not material. In March 2017, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic postretirement benefit cost, which, in an effort to improve consistency and transparency, requires the service cost component of defined benefit pension cost and postretirement benefit cost (“net benefit cost”) to be reported in the same line of the income statement as other compensation costs earned by the employee and the other components of net benefit cost to be reported below income from operations. The new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2019 fiscal year with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements and have not yet selected an adoption date. In August 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that simplifies the application of hedge accounting guidance in current GAAP and improves the reporting of hedging relationships to better portray the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities in its financial statements. Among the simplification updates, the standard eliminates the requirement in current GAAP to separately recognize periodic hedge ineffectiveness. Mismatches between the changes in value of the hedged item and hedging instrument may still occur but they will no longer be separately reported. The standard requires the presentation of the earnings effect of the hedging instrument in the same income statement line item in which the earnings effect of the hedged item is reported. The standard is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, but early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard will have on our financial statements.