Recently Issued Accounting Standards

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Recently Issued Accounting Standards [Abstract]

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

NOTE 2—RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2011-04, "Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs." This update establishes common requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). The amendments in this update were effective for Ralcorp's financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. The adoption of this update did not have an effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, "Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income." The objective of this update is to improve the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting to increase the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income. This update requires that all nonowner changes in shareholders' equity be presented in either a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011 (i.e., Ralcorp's financial statements for the quarter ending December 31, 2012), except for those deferred by ASU No. 2011-12, "Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05," issued in December 2011. The adoption of this update is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In September 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-9, "Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Multiemployer Plans (Subtopic 715-80): Disclosures about an Employer's Participation in a Multiemployer Plan," which provides new requirements for the disclosures that an employer should provide related to its participation in multiemployer pension plans. Plans of this type are commonly used by employers to provide benefits to union employees that may work for multiple employers during their working life and thereby accrue benefits in one plan for their retirement. The revised disclosures will provide users of financial statements with additional information about the plans in which an employer participates, the level of an employer's participation in the plans, and financial health of significant plans. The amendments in this update are effective for Ralcorp's annual financial statements for the year ending September 30, 2012. The adoption of this update is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.