ANYTIMEkANYPLACEkANYWHERE - Heinz

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENTS
RESPONSIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
Management of H.J. Heinz Company is responsible for
the preparation of the financial statements and other
information included in this annual report. The financial
statements have been prepared in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles, incorporating
management’s best estimates and judgments, where
applicable.
Management believes that the company’s internal
control systems provide reasonable assurance that
assets are safe-guarded, transactions are recorded and
reported appropriately, and policies are followed. The
concept of reasonable assurance recognizes that the cost
of a control procedure should not exceed the expected
benefits. Management believes that its systems provide
this appropriate balance. An important element of
the company’s control systems is the ongoing program
to promote control consciousness throughout the
organization. Management’s commitment to this program
is emphasized through written policies and procedures
(including a code of conduct), an effective internal audit
function and a qualified financial staff.
The company engages independent public accountants
who are responsible for performing an independent audit
of the financial statements. Their report, which appears
herein, is based on obtaining an understanding of the
company’s accounting systems and procedures and testing
them as they deem necessary.
The company’s Audit Committee is composed entirely
of outside directors. The Audit Committee meets regularly,
and when appropriate separately, with the independent
public accountants, the internal auditors and financial
management to review the work of each and to satisfy
itself that each is discharging its responsibilities properly.
Both the independent public accountants and the internal
auditors have unrestricted access to the Audit Committee.
To the Shareholders of
H.J. Heinz Company:
In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance
sheets and the related consolidated statements of income,
shareholders’ equity and cash flows present fairly, in
all material respects, the financial position of H.J. Heinz
Company and its subsidiaries (the ‘‘Company’’) at May 3,
2000 and April 28, 1999, and the results of its operations
and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period
ended May 3, 2000, in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States.
These financial statements are the responsibility of the
Company’s management; our responsibility is to express
an opinion on these financial statements based on our
audits. We conducted our audits of these statements in
accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in
the United States, which require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether
the financial statements are free of material misstatement.
An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements, assessing the accounting principles used and
significant estimates made by management, and evaluating
the overall financial statement presentation. We believe
that our audits provide a reasonable basis for the opinion
expressed above.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June 14, 2000
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