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Exhibit 12
Dean Foods Company and Subsidiaries
Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges
Fiscal Years Ending May
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1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991
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Income (loss) before taxes $(69,395) $136,388 $118,313 $114,759 $105,527 $124,340
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Fixed charges:
Interest expense 28,120 22,397 15,471 14,888 15,551 16,780
Debt issue costs 229 117 123 155 118 128
Portion of rentals (33%) 10,142 8,270 6,997 7,653 9,124 8,528
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Total fixed charges 38,491 30,784 22,591 22,696 24,793 25,436
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Earnings (loss) before taxes
and fixed charges $(30,904) $167,172 $140,904 $137,455 $130,320 $149,776
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Ratio of earnings (loss)
to fixed charges - (*) 5.4 6.2 6.1 5.3 5.9
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(*) The Fiscal 1996 Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges is less than one-to-one
due to the $150.0 million special charge included in "Income (Loss) before
Taxes", resulting in $69,395 fixed charge coverage deficiency.
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