DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Details) bird / WK in Millions, lb in Billions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 27, 2015 bird / WK segment employee grower country state lb
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Number of countries in which entity exports products | country	95
Number of states in which entity operates | state	12
Number of employees | employee	39,200
Maximum processing capacity of employees per week (in birds per week) (more than) | bird / WK	37
Maximum annual processing capacity of employees (in pounds) (more than)	11
Number of contract growers | grower	3,900
Percentage of beneficial ownership by holding company	75.80%
Number of reportable segments | segment	1
Minimum [Member]
Fiscal Period [Line Items]
Fiscal Period Duration	364 days
Maximum [Member]
Fiscal Period [Line Items]
Fiscal Period Duration	371 days