Debt (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended											9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 29, 2012	Oct. 01, 2011	Dec. 17, 2010 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 29, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Oct. 01, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Mar. 25, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Mar. 24, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Revolving Credit Facility	Dec. 17, 2010 Secured Debt [Member] Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Secured Debt [Member] Term Loan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Secured Debt [Member] Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Unsecured Debt [Member] Darling International Senior Unsecured Restricted Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Unsecured Debt [Member] Darling International Senior Unsecured Restricted Notes [Member]	Dec. 17, 2010 Unsecured Debt [Member] Darling International Senior Unsecured Restricted Notes [Member]	Jul. 15, 2011 Unsecured Debt [Member] Darling International Senior Unsecured Exchange Notes [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Letter of Credit [Member] Darling International Senior Secured Letter of Credit Sub Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Letter of Credit [Member] Darling International Senior Secured Letter of Credit Sub Facility [Member]	Mar. 25, 2011 Letter of Credit [Member] Darling International Senior Secured Letter of Credit Sub Facility [Member]	Mar. 25, 2011 Bridge Loan [Member] Darling International Senior Secured Swingline Sub Facility [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Minimum [Member] Notes Payable, Other Payables [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Alternate Base Rate [Member] Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Alternate Base Rate [Member] Minimum [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Alternate Base Rate [Member] Maximum [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 LIBOR Rate [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 LIBOR Rate [Member] Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Term			5 years						6 years
Line of Credit Facility Maximum Borrowing Capacity				$ 415,000,000		$ 415,000,000	$ 415,000,000	$ 325,000,000										$ 75,000,000	$ 15,000,000
Company availability under revolving loan facility				384,636,000		391,560,000
Outstanding borrowings and letter of credit issued				0		0										30,364,000	23,440,000
Original amount of term loan									300,000,000	0	30,000,000	250,000,000	250,000,000
Amount repaid of the original term loan issued	30,013,000	240,007,000								30,000,000
Write-off of a portion of the senior term loan facilities deferred loan costs				700,000	4,200,000
Debt Instrument Additional Interest Rate Percentage																					2.50%	0.50%	1.00%	1.00%	3.50%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage Rate Range, Minimum																					2.50%				1.50%
Face amount of debt insturment														$ 250,000,000	$ 250,000,000
Annual Interest rate on 8.5% Senior Notes due 2018														8.50%	8.50%
Redemption Price Of Principal Amount Of Notes Redeemed	1
Default event, percent of principal held in order to declare notes due and payable immediately																				25.00%
Pledge of stock	100.00%
Pledge of Capital stock	65.00%