products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and promo- tional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials, packaging, and energy; disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain; volatility in the market value of derivatives used to manage price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates used to determine plan liabilities; failure of our information technology systems; resolu- tion of uncertain income tax matters; foreign economic condi- tions, including currency rate fluctuations; and political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war. You should also consider the risk factors that we identify in Item 1A of the 2010 Form 10-K, which could also affect our future results. We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward- looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence of antic- ipated or unanticipated events. This report contains or incorporates by reference forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on our current expectations and assumptions. We also may make written or oral forward- looking statements, including statements contained in our filings with the SEC and in our reports to stockholders. The words or phrases “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “is anticipated,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” or similar expressions identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results and those currently anticipated or projected. We wish to caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward- looking statements. In connection with the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we are identifying impor- tant factors that could affect our financial performance and could cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from any current opinions or statements. Our future results could be affected by a variety of factors, such as: competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and the markets for our products, including new product introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and promotional activities of our competitors; economic conditions, including changes in inflation rates, interest rates, tax rates, or the availability of capital; product development and innovation; consumer accep- tance of new products and product improvements; consumer reaction to pricing actions and changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets; changes in capital structure; changes in laws and regulations, including labeling and advertising regulations; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in accounting standards and the impact of significant accounting estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer demand for our We are exposed to market risk stemming from changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodity prices, and equity prices. Changes in these factors could cause fluctuations in our earnings and cash flows. In the normal course of business, we actively manage our exposure to these market risks by entering into various hedging transactions, authorized under established policies that place clear controls on these activities. The counter- parties in these transactions are generally highly rated institu- tions. We establish credit limits for each counterparty. Our hedg- ing transactions include but are not limited to a variety of deriv- ative financial instruments. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk General Mills 42 CAUTIONARY STATEMENT RELEVANT TO FORWARD- LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995