Document And Entity Information	6 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-Q
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2011
Amendment Flag	false
Trading Symbol	sle
Entity Registrant Name	Sara Lee Corp
Entity Central Index Key	0000023666
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--06-30
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	591,592,387