EXHIBIT 99(A)

     I, William R. Johnson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
H.J. Heinz Company certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of H.J. Heinz
Company;

     2. Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly
report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report.

     4. The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and we have:

          a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that
     material information relating to the registrant and its consolidated
     subsidiaries is made known to such officers by others within those
     entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is
     being prepared;

          b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
     and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this
     quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

          c) presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
     effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
     evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

     5.  The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons fulfilling the
equivalent functions):

          a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
     controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
     process, summarize, and report financial data and have identified for the
     registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and

          b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     controls; and

     6.  The registrant's other certifying officers and I have indicated in this
quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective
actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

Date: December 12, 2002

                                          By:      /s/ WILLIAM R. JOHNSON
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Name: William R. Johnson
                                            Title: Chairman, President and
                                                Chief Executive Officer