Exhibit 24

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY


By this Power of Attorney given this 18th day of September, 2006, Michael F.
Weinstein, an individual residing at 3 Spanish Cove Road, Larchmont, New York
10538, authorizes Theodore N. Bobby, Esquire, Senior Vice President and General
Counsel of H. J. Heinz Company, Patrick J. Guinee, Esquire, Assistant General
Counsel of H. J. Heinz Company, and Rene D. Biedzinski, Corporate Secretary of
H. J. Heinz Company, a Pennsylvania corporation with offices located at 600
Grant Street, 60th Floor US Steel Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(collectively, the "Attorneys," and each, individually, the "Attorney"), to
perform the following on my behalf:

         To prepare, execute, and file on my behalf all Forms 3, 4, and
         5, and amendments thereto, necessary or appropriate to comply
         with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
         "Act") and the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to
         the Act.

This Power of Attorney is valid until revoked by me.

I acknowledge that the Attorneys, in serving in such capacity at my request, are
not assuming, nor is H. J. Heinz Company assuming, any of my responsibilities to
comply with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.




/s/ Michael F. Weinstein
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    Michael F. Weinstein