40704--7/9/2010--GENERAL_MILLS

related topics

{cost, regulation, environmental}

{product, market, service}

{customer, product, revenue}

{product, liability, claim}

{system, service, information}

{cost, contract, operation}

{condition, economic, financial}

{gas, price, oil}

{tax, income, asset}

{competitive, industry, competition}

{debt, indebtedness, cash}

{operation, international, foreign}

{capital, credit, financial}

Price changes for the commodities we depend on for raw materials, packaging, and energy may adversely affect our profitability. Volatility in the market value of derivatives we use to manage exposures to fluctuations in commodity prices will cause volatility in our gross margins and net earnings. If we are not efficient in our production, our profitability could suffer as a result of the highly competitive environment in which we operate. Disruption of our supply chain could adversely affect our business. Concerns with the safety and quality of food products could cause consumers to avoid certain food products or ingredients. If our food products become adulterated, misbranded, or mislabeled, we might need to recall those items and may experience product liability claims if consumers are injured. We may be unable to anticipate changes in consumer preferences and trends, which may result in decreased demand for our products. We may be unable to grow our market share or add products that are in faster growing and more profitable categories. Customer demand for our products may be limited in future periods as a result of increased purchases in response to promotional activity. Economic downturns could limit consumer demand for our products. Our international operations are subject to political and economic risks. New regulations or regulatory-based claims could adversely affect our business. We have a substantial amount of indebtedness, which could limit financing and other options and in some cases adversely affect our ability to pay dividends. Global capital and credit market issues could negatively affect our liquidity, increase our costs of borrowing, and disrupt the operations of our suppliers and customers. Volatility in the securities markets, interest rates, and other factors or changes in our employee base could substantially increase our defined benefit pension, other postretirement, and postemployment benefit costs. Our business operations could be disrupted if our information technology systems fail to perform adequately. If other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are unable to contribute to remediation costs at certain contaminated sites, our costs for remediation could be material. A change in the assumptions regarding the future performance of our businesses or a different weighted-average cost of capital used to value our reporting units or our indefinite-lived intangible assets could negatively affect our consolidated results of operations and net worth.

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40704--7/9/2010--GENERAL_MILLS_INC