We are involved in various claims, including environmental matters, arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters, either individually or in aggregate, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. 

## NOTE 16. BUSINESS SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 

We operate in the consumer foods industry. We have three operating segments by type of customer and geographic region as follows: U.S. Retail, 69.8 percent of our fiscal 2010 consolidated net sales; International, 18.2 percent of our fiscal 2010 consoli- dated net sales; and Bakeries and Foodservice, 12.0 percent of our fiscal 2010 consolidated net sales. 

Our U.S. Retail segment reflects business with a wide variety of grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, and drug, dollar and discount chains operating throughout the United States. Our major product categories in this business segment are ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grain, fruit and savory snacks, and a wide variety of organic products including soup, granola bars, and cereal. 

In Canada, our major product categories are ready-to-eat cere- als, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, dry dinners, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza snacks, and grain, fruit and savory snacks. In markets outside North America, our product categories include super-premium ice cream, grain snacks, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, dough products, and dry dinners. Our International segment also includes products manufactured in the United States for export, mainly to Caribbean and Latin American markets, as well as products we manufacture for sale to our international joint ventures. Revenues from export activities are reported in the region or country where the end customer is located. These international businesses are managed through 34 sales and marketing offices. 

In our Bakeries and Foodservice segment our major product categories are cereals, snacks, yogurt, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, baking mixes, and flour. Many products we sell are branded to the consumer and nearly all are branded to 

our customers. We sell to distributors and operators in many customer channels including foodservice, convenience stores, vending, and supermarket bakeries. Following our fiscal 2009 divestitures, substantially all of this segment’s operations are located in the United States. 

Operating profit for these segments excludes unallocated cor- porate items, restructuring, impairment, and other exit costs, and divestiture gains and losses. Unallocated corporate items include variances to planned corporate overhead expenses, variances to planned domestic employee benefits and incentives, all stock- based compensation costs, annual contributions to the General Mills Foundation, and other items that are not part of our mea- surement of segment operating performance.These include gains and losses arising from the revaluation of certain grain inventories and gains and losses from mark-to-market valuation of certain commodity positions until passed back to our operating seg- ments in accordance with our policy as discussed in Note 2.These items affecting operating profit are centrally managed at the corporate level and are excluded from the measure of segment profitability reviewed by executive management. Under our sup- ply chain organization, our manufacturing, warehouse, and dis- tribution activities are substantially integrated across our oper- ations in order to maximize efficiency and productivity. As a result, fixed assets and depreciation and amortization expenses are neither maintained nor available by operating segment. 

As discussed in Note 1, we adopted new accounting guidance on noncontrolling interests at the beginning of fiscal 2010.To conform to the current year’s presentation, earnings attributable to noncontrol- ling interests in foreign subsidiaries of $2.1 million in fiscal 2009, and $1.4 million in fiscal 2008, which were previously deducted from the International segment’s operating profit, have been reclassified to net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests. 

