Reports of Management and Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm REPORT OF MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM The management of General Mills, Inc. is responsible for the fairness and accuracy of the consolidated financial statements. The statements have been prepared in accordance with account- ing principles that are generally accepted in the United States, using management’s best estimates and judgments where appro- priate. The financial information throughout the Annual Report on Form 10-K is consistent with our consolidated financial statements. Management has established a system of internal controls that provides reasonable assurance that assets are adequately safe- guarded and transactions are recorded accurately in all material respects, in accordance with management’s authorization. We maintain a strong audit program that independently evaluates the adequacy and effectiveness of internal controls. Our internal controls provide for appropriate separation of duties and respon- sibilities, and there are documented policies regarding use of our assets and proper financial reporting. These formally stated and regularly communicated policies demand highly ethical conduct from all employees. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors meets regularly with management, internal auditors, and our independent regis- tered public accounting firm to review internal control, auditing, and financial reporting matters. The independent registered pub- lic accounting firm, internal auditors, and employees have full and free access to the Audit Committee at any time. The Audit Committee reviewed and approved the Company’s annual financial statements. The Audit Committee recom- mended, and the Board of Directors approved, that the consol- idated financial statements be included in the Annual Report. The Audit Committee also appointed KPMG LLP to serve as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2011, subject to ratification by the stockholders at the annual meeting. The Board of Directors and Stockholders General Mills, Inc.: We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of General Mills, Inc. and subsidiaries as of May 30, 2010, and May 31, 2009, and the related consolidated statements of earnings, total equity and comprehensive income, and cash flows for each of the fiscal years in the three-year period ended May 30, 2010. In connection with our audits of the consolidated financial statements, we have audited the accompanying financial statement schedule. We also have audited General Mills Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of May 30, 2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). General Mills, Inc.’s manage- ment is responsible for these consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule, for maintaining effective inter- nal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements and financial statement sched- ule and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over finan- cial reporting based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial state- ments are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the consolidated financial state- ments included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assess- ing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effec- tiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits 45 Annual Report 2010 K. J. Powell Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer D. L. Mulligan Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer