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This financial discussion and other portions of this Annual Report to
Shareholders contain various "Forward-Looking Statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include
expectations concerning business progress and expansion, business
acquisitions, currency translation, cash flows, debt repayments, share
repurchases, susceptibility to changes in technology, global economic
conditions and liquidity requirements. These statements, which represent our
expectations or beliefs concerning various future events, are based on current
expectations. Therefore, they involve a number of risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those of such Forward-Looking Statements. These risks and uncertainties include the vitality of the
foodservice, hospitality, travel, health care and food processing industries;
restraints on pricing flexibility due to competitive factors, customer or vendor
consolidations, and existing contractual obligations; changes in oil or raw
material prices or unavailability of adequate and reasonably priced raw
materials or substitutes therefor; the occurrence of capacity constraints or the
loss of a key supplier or the inability to obtain or renew supply agreements on
favorable terms; the effect of future acquisitions or divestitures or other
corporate transactions; our ability to achieve plans for past acquisitions; the
costs and effects of complying with: (i) laws and regulations relating to the
environment and to the manufacture, storage, distribution, efficacy and
labeling of our products, and (ii) changes in tax, fiscal, governmental and other
regulatory policies; economic factors such as the worldwide economy, interest
rates and currency movements, including, in particular, our exposure to foreign
currency risk; the occurrence of (a) litigation or claims, (b) the loss or insolvency
of a major customer or distributor, (c) war (including acts of terrorism or
hostilities which impact our markets), (d) natural or manmade disasters, or (e)
severe weather conditions or public health epidemics affecting the foodservice,
hospitality and travel industries; loss of, or changes in, executive management;
our ability to continue product introductions or reformulations and
technological innovations; and other uncertainties or risks reported from time
to time in our reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition,
we note that our stock price can be affected by fluctuations in quarterly
earnings. There can be no assurances that our earnings levels will meet
investors' expectations. We undertake no duty to update our Forward-Looking
Statements.
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