Contingencies (Schedule Of Pending Cases) (Details)	Apr. 23, 2012		Apr. 25, 2011		Apr. 26, 2010
Individual Smoking And Health Cases [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of Cases Pending	79	[1]	89	[1]	85	[1]
Smoking And Health Class Actions And Aggregated Claims Litigation [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of Cases Pending	7	[2]	10	[2]	7	[2]
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of Cases Pending	1		3		3
"Lights/Ultra Lights" Class Actions [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of Cases Pending	17		30		28
Tobacco Price Cases [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of Cases Pending	1		1		2

[1] Does not include 2,585 cases brought by flight attendants seeking compensatory damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke ("ETS"). The flight attendants allege that they are members of an ETS smoking and health class action in Florida, which was settled in 1997 (Broin). The terms of the court-approved settlement in that case allow class members to file individual lawsuits seeking compensatory damages, but prohibit them from seeking punitive damages. Certain Broin plaintiffs have filed a motion seeking approximately $50 million in sanctions for alleged interference by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ("R.J. Reynolds") and PM USA with Lorillard, Inc.'s acceptance of offers of settlement in the Broin progeny cases. In May 2011, the trial court denied this motion. On January 5, 2012, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal denied plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari seeking immediate review and, on March 6, 2012, the court denied plaintiffs' petition for rehearing. Also, does not include approximately 6,540 individual smoking and health cases (3,298 state court cases and 3,242 federal court cases) brought by or on behalf of approximately 7,791 plaintiffs in Florida (4,550 state court plaintiffs and 3,241 federal court plaintiffs) following the decertification of the Engle case discussed below. It is possible that some of these cases are duplicates and that additional cases have been filed but not yet recorded on the courts' dockets.

[2] Includes as one case the 600 civil actions (of which 346 are actions against PM USA) that are to be tried in a single proceeding in West Virginia (In re: Tobacco Litigation). The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that the United States Constitution does not preclude a trial in two phases in this case. Under the current trial plan, issues related to defendants' conduct and whether punitive damages are permissible will be tried in the first phase. The second phase would consist of individual trials to determine liability, if any, as well as compensatory and punitive damages, if any. Trial in the case began in October 2011, but ended in a mistrial in November 2011. The court has not yet scheduled a new trial.