NEWS RELEASE
                                     
                                     
                        TYSON FOODS BOARD EXPANDED
                                    AND
                        INCREASED DIVIDEND DECLARED
                                     
                                     
     Springdale, AR  (May 7, 1999)  In its regularly scheduled quarterly
board meeting, Tyson Foods, Inc.'s (NYSE:TSN) Board of Directors today
voted to expand its membership by one and declared an increased quarterly
dividend on its stock.
     Jim D. Keever, 46, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of ENVOY
Corporation in Nashville, Tennessee was elected to the newly created 13th
position on the Tyson Board of Directors.  Mr. Keever founded ENVOY
Corporation in 1981.  ENVOY was an innovator in electronic claims
processing and grew to become the nation's largest health care transaction
processor.  In December of 1998 ENVOY merged with Quintiles Transnational,
a multi-national clinical research organization.  Mr. Keever will become
the head of the ENVOY division of Quintiles and will serve on the Quintiles
Board of Directors.
     Mr. Keever received his B.S. degree in business administration and
accounting from the University of Arkansas in 1974, graduated from
Vanderbilt Law School in 1977 and worked for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell &
Company as a certified public accountant prior to founding ENVOY.
     "We are proud to have an individual of Jim Keever's caliber joining
Tyson as an outside director, " said Chairman John Tyson. "His wealth of
experience in the business world and expertise in the fields of law,
accounting, health care and electronic data processing will bring a new
dimension to our board as we move forward to the next phase in the
evolution of this great company. "
                                     
                                     
                                     
                                     























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Tyson Foods Board Expanded
May 7, 1999
Page 2

     The Tyson Board of Directors also declared an increased dividend on
both its Class A and Class B stock.  The quarterly dividend, which will
increase on Class A stock from $.025 to $.04 per share and on Class B stock
from $.0225 to $.036 per share, is payable on September 15, 1999 to
shareholders of record at the close of business on September 1, 1999.
     For further information, contact Tyson's Director of Media, Public and
Governmental Affairs, Archie Schaffer III at 501-290-7232.
                                     
                                     













































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