Smithfield Foods (SFD) 10-Q 2003 Q0 Quarterly report

EXHIBIT 99.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ended January 26, 2003 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Joseph W. Luter, III, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

(1) The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

(2) The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.

/s/    Joseph W. Luter, III       

Joseph W. Luter, III

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Date: March 12, 2003