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Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingencies
17. Contingencies

Litigation

We are defendants in lawsuits associated with the normal conduct of our businesses and operations. It is not possible to predict the outcome of the pending actions, and, as with any litigation, it is possible that these actions could be decided unfavorably to the Company. The Company believes that there are meritorious defenses to these actions and that these actions will not have a material adverse effect upon our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition, and where appropriate, these actions are being vigorously contested.

Environmental

Compliance with federal, state and local laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, did not have a material effect on capital expenditures, earnings or the competitive position of Fortune Brands during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. We are involved in remediation activities to clean up hazardous wastes as required by federal and state laws. Liabilities for remediation costs of each site are based on our best estimate of undiscounted future costs, excluding possible insurance recoveries or recoveries from other third parties. We believe, compliance with current environmental protection laws (before taking into account estimated recoveries from third parties) will not have a material adverse effect upon our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. Uncertainties about the status of laws, regulations, technology and information related to individual sites make it difficult to develop estimates of environmental remediation exposures.