Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets 1 (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 27, 2011	Jul. 28, 2010	Apr. 27, 2011
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	$ 869,579,000		$ 898,977,000
Accumulated Amortization	(366,367,000)		(385,947,000)
Net	503,212,000		513,030,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	1,080,000,000		1,085,700,000
Finite Lived Intangible Assets (Textuals) [Abstract]
Amortization expense for trademarks and other intangible assets	8,000,000	7,100,000
Future amortization expense for finite-lived intangible assets	32,000,000
Trademarks [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	293,836,000		297,020,000
Accumulated Amortization	(84,453,000)		(83,343,000)
Net	209,383,000		213,677,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	938,900,000		942,500,000
Licenses [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	208,186,000		208,186,000
Accumulated Amortization	(159,657,000)		(158,228,000)
Net	48,529,000		49,958,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	20,500,000		20,700,000
Recipes/processes [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	90,553,000		90,553,000
Accumulated Amortization	(33,056,000)		(31,988,000)
Net	57,497,000		58,565,000
Intangible assets not subject to amortization	120,600,000		122,500,000
Customer-related assets [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	224,771,000		224,173,000
Accumulated Amortization	(61,268,000)		(57,555,000)
Net	163,503,000		166,618,000
Other [Member]
Finite Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross	52,233,000		79,045,000
Accumulated Amortization	(27,933,000)		(54,833,000)
Net	$ 24,300,000		$ 24,212,000