Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 1 (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Oct. 26, 2011	Oct. 27, 2010	Oct. 26, 2011	Oct. 27, 2010	Apr. 27, 2011
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	$ 847,848,000		$ 847,848,000		$ 898,977,000
Accumulated Amortization	(367,825,000)		(367,825,000)		(385,947,000)
Net	480,023,000		480,023,000		513,030,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	1,035,500,000		1,035,500,000		1,085,700,000
Finite Lived Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Amortization expense for trademarks and other intangible assets	8,800,000	6,700,000	16,800,000	13,800,000
Future amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets			35,000,000
Trademarks [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	286,066,000		286,066,000		297,020,000
Accumulated Amortization	(84,610,000)		(84,610,000)		(83,343,000)
Net	201,456,000		201,456,000		213,677,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	897,300,000		897,300,000		942,500,000
Licenses [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	208,186,000		208,186,000		208,186,000
Accumulated Amortization	(161,085,000)		(161,085,000)		(158,228,000)
Net	47,101,000		47,101,000		49,958,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	19,900,000		19,900,000		20,700,000
Recipes/processes [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	88,971,000		88,971,000		90,553,000
Accumulated Amortization	(33,601,000)		(33,601,000)		(31,988,000)
Net	55,370,000		55,370,000		58,565,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	118,400,000		118,400,000		122,500,000
Customer-related assets [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	214,653,000		214,653,000		224,173,000
Accumulated Amortization	(62,105,000)		(62,105,000)		(57,555,000)
Net	152,548,000		152,548,000		166,618,000
Other [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	49,972,000		49,972,000		79,045,000
Accumulated Amortization	(26,424,000)		(26,424,000)		(54,833,000)
Net	$ 23,548,000		$ 23,548,000		$ 24,212,000