Certain statements included in this Web site and other materials filed or to be filed by Darden Restaurants, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission (as well as information included in oral or written statements made or to be made by us) may contain statements that are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as codified in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Words or phrases such as "believe," "plan," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate" and "project," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All of these statements, and any other statements in this report that are not historical facts, are forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions concerning important factors, risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, could cause the actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to those discussed below and in Part I, Item lA "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K:

• the intensely competitive nature of the restaurant industry, especially pricing, service, location, personnel and type and quality of food;
• economic and business factors, both specific to the restaurant industry and generally, that are largely out of our control, including changes in consumer preferences, demographic trends, severe weather conditions including hurricanes, a protracted economic slowdown or worsening economy, unemployment, energy prices, interest rates, industry wide cost pressures and public safety conditions, including actual or threatened armed conflicts or terrorist attacks;
• the price and availability of food, ingredients and utilities, including the general risk of inflation;
• the impact of shortages or interruptions in the delivery of food and other supplies
• labor and insurance costs, including increased labor costs as a result of federal and state-mandated increases in minimum wage rates and increased insurance costs as a result of increases in our current insurance premiums;
• the loss of key personnel or difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified personnel;
• a material information technology interruption or security failure;
• increased advertising and marketing costs;
• higher-than-anticipated costs to open, close, relocate or remodel restaurants;
• litigation by employees, consumers, suppliers, shareholders or others, regardless of whether the allegations made against us are valid or we are ultimately found liable;
• unfavorable publicity relating to food safety or other concerns;
• a lack of suitable new restaurant locations or a decline in the quality of the locations of our current restaurants;
• federal, state and local regulation of our business, including laws and regulations relating to our relationships with our employees, zoning, land use, environmental matters and liquor licenses;
• factors impacting our growth objectives, including lower-than-expected sales and profitability of newly opened restaurants, our ability to develop or acquire new concepts, and our ability to manage risks relating to the opening of new restaurants, including real estate development and construction activities, union activities, the issuance and renewal of licenses and permits, and the availability and costs of funds to finance growth;
• our plans to expand newer concepts like Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 that have not yet proven their long-term viability may not be successful and could require us to make substantial further investments in these concepts;
• our ability to combine and integrate the business of RARE into our operations in a successful and timely manner and to achieve synergies following the completion of the acquisition, including the ultimate realization of goodwill;
• the impact of the substantial indebtedness we incurred in connection with the acquisition of RARE;
• a failure of our internal controls over financial reporting;
• the impact of disruptions in the financial markets, including an increase in pension costs;
• the negative effect of a possible change in the assumptions used to value our goodwill or other intangible assets, and
• the impact of volatility in the market value of derivatives we use to hedge commodity prices.

Since it is not possible to foresee all such factors, risks and uncertainties, investors should not consider these factors to be a complete list of all risks or uncertainties.