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CONTINGENCIES | 12 Months Ended
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May 31, 2026
CONTINGENCIES |
CONTINGENCIES | 16. CONTINGENCIES Litigation Matters We are party to a number of matters asserting product liability claims against the Company related to certain Pam® and other cooking spray products. We have denied liability, however, we cannot predict with certainty the results of these actions. To date, the Company has settled all but a few of these matters. Pursuant to these settlements, the Company paid $141.1 million in fiscal 2026 and $25 million in fiscal 2025 and has agreed to pay an additional $44.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. In connection with these settlements, the Company has secured insurance recovery from certain applicable insurers, recognizing related insurance receivables of $1.6 million within Receivables as of May 31, 2026 and $81.8 million ($78.4 million within Receivables and $3.4 million within Other assets) as of May 25, 2025. The Company believes adequate provision has been made in its Consolidated Financial Statements for all probable and reasonably estimable losses for the litigation related to the cooking spray products based on information available to us at the time of our evaluation. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, a jury entered a verdict against the Company for $25 million in compensatory damages in a lawsuit captioned Esparza v. Conagra Brands, Inc., et al., in which a consumer claimed personal injury due to alleged exposure to diacetyl from Pam® butter flavored cooking spray. An initial judgment on the verdict for $22.9 million was entered in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, including certain offsets. We are contesting the initial verdict, and a final judgment has not yet been entered. The Company intends to appeal any final judgment. The Company believes adequate provision has been made in its Consolidated Financial Statements for all probable and reasonably estimable losses from this lawsuit based on information available to us at the time of our evaluation. Additionally, we have put the applicable insurance carriers on notice and are pursuing available insurance coverage. In 2019, we resolved a legacy litigation matter related to lead-based paint and/or pigment manufactured by an alleged predecessor to the Company during the first half of the 20th century for a total settlement of $101.7 million. The company paid $12.0 million toward that settlement in fiscal 2025 and made the final $16.7 million settlement payment in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. We are party to various other lawsuits including personal injury, product liability claims (including pending litigation alleging that certain of our products should be considered “ultra-processed” and consumption of such “ultra-processed” products allegedly causes negative health impacts), putative class action lawsuits challenging various product claims made in the Company’s product labeling, and matters challenging the Company’s wage and hour practices. While we cannot predict with certainty the results of the remaining claims or any other legal proceedings, we do not expect these matters to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or business. Our accrual for all litigation matters, including those matters described above, that are probable and estimable, was $47.7 million within Other accrued liabilities as of May 31, 2026 and $204.5 million ($160.2 million within Other accrued liabilities and $44.3 million within Other noncurrent liabilities) as of May 25, 2025. Environmental Matters U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regulations require us to disclose certain information about environmental proceedings if a governmental authority is a party to such proceedings and such proceedings involve potential monetary sanctions that we reasonably believe will exceed a stated threshold. Pursuant to the SEC regulations, the Company uses a threshold of $1.0 million for purposes of determining whether disclosure of any such proceedings is required. We are a party to certain environmental proceedings relating to businesses divested by Beatrice prior to our acquisition in fiscal 1991, including litigation and administrative proceedings involving Beatrice’s possible status as a potentially responsible party at approximately 35 Superfund, proposed Superfund, or state-equivalent sites (the “Beatrice sites”). The Beatrice sites consist of locations previously owned or operated by predecessors of Beatrice that used or produced petroleum, pesticides, fertilizers, dyes, inks, solvents, polychlorinated biphenyls, acids, lead, sulfur, tannery wastes, and/or other contaminants. Reserves for these Beatrice environmental proceedings have been established based on our best estimate of the undiscounted remediation liabilities, which estimates include evaluation of investigatory studies, extent of required clean-up, the known volumetric contribution of Beatrice and other potentially responsible parties, and its experience in remediating sites. The accrual for Beatrice-related environmental matters totaled $39.4 million ($3.0 million within Other accrued liabilities and $36.4 million within Other noncurrent liabilities) as of May 31, 2026 and $36.0 million ($3.2 million within Other accrued liabilities and $32.8 million within Other noncurrent liabilities) as of May 25, 2025, a majority of which relates to the Superfund and state-equivalent sites referenced above. General After taking into account liabilities recognized for all of the foregoing matters, management believes the ultimate resolution of such matters should not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity; however, it is reasonably possible that a change of the estimates of any of the foregoing matters may occur in the future that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. Costs of legal services associated with the foregoing matters are recognized within SG&A expenses as services are provided.

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