Common Stock and Share-Based Compensation - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 26, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		May 15, 2013 Minimum	May 15, 2013 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Ninteen Ninty Seven Stock Option And Restricted Stock Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Ninteen Eighty Nine Dean Foods Company Stock Awards Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Dean Foods Company Two Thousand Seven Stock Incentive Plan	Dec. 31, 2013 Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)		Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)		Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted Stock	Dec. 31, 2012 Restricted Stock	Dec. 31, 2013 Restricted Stock Non-Employee Directors	Dec. 31, 2013 Cash Performance Units	Dec. 31, 2012 Cash Performance Units	Dec. 31, 2013 Cash Performance Units Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Cash Performance Units Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 WhiteWave Foods Spinoff	Dec. 31, 2013 WhiteWave Foods Stock Options Spinoff
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Preferred stock, shares authorized		1,000,000
Common stock, shares authorized		500,000,000
Common stock, par value		$ 0.01		$ 0.01
Reverse stock split	0.5					0.5	0.125
Share-based compensation expense																							$ 6,700,000	$ 5,700,000
Authorized to repurchase common stock		2,300,000,000
Authorized to repurchase additional common stock		2,380,000,000
Amount available for repurchase		300,000,000
Maximum stock options grants								37,500,000	5,700,000	12,300,000
Stock option awarded			[1]		[1]					1.67
Shares available for issuance		10,680,000
Option vested on grant											In general, employee options vest one-third on the first anniversary of the grant date, one-third on the second anniversary of the grant date and one-third on the third anniversary of the grant date.					Shares of restricted stock vest one-third on grant, one-third on the first anniversary of grant and one-third on the second anniversary of grant.
Expected option term, in years											10 years
Dividend payment date											2014
Cash received from stock option exercises											27,300,000
Cash benefit for tax deductions realized for option exercises											3,600,000
Total unrecognized stock option expense											$ 600,000	$ 6,600,000
Unrecognized compensation expense expected to be recognized period, years											11 months 5 days	1 year 6 months 18 days
Percentage of fee value option to receive in restricted stock																		150.00%
Payout range, cash performance units																					0.00%	200.00%
Awards outstanding												776,290	[2]	525,099	[2]	24,199	13,158		0	1,526,250

[1] On August 26, 2013 we effected a 1-for-2 reverse stock split of our issued common stock. The number and weighted average exercise price of stock options outstanding as of January 1, 2013 and any stock option activity during 2013 prior to the date of the reverse stock split have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the reverse stock split.

[2] On August 26, 2013 we effected a 1-for-2 reverse stock split of our issued common stock. The number and weighted average grant date fair value of stock units outstanding as of January 1, 2013 and any stock unit activity during 2013 prior to the date of the reverse stock split have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the reverse stock split.