EXHIBIT 31

                             CERTIFICATION

I,  John  Bekkers,  Principal Executive Officer  of  Gold  Kist  Inc.,
certify that:

1.   I  have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Gold  Kist
     Inc.;

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 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 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-15(e)  and  15d-
     15(e)) for the registrant and have:

     (a) Designed  such disclosure controls and procedures, or  caused
         such  disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
         our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
         to  the  registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
         is  made  known  to  us  by  others  within  those  entities,
         particularly during the period in which this report is  being
         prepared;

     (b) Evaluated  the  effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure
         controls  and  procedures and presented in  this  report  our
         conclusion about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
         and  procedures, as of the end of the period covered by  this
         report based on such evaluation; and

     (c) Disclosed  in  this  report any change  in  the  registrant's
         internal  control  over  financial  reporting  that  occurred
         during  the  registrant's  most recent  fiscal  quarter  (the
         registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of  an  annual
         report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
         to  materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
         financial reporting; and

5.   The  registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed,
     based  on  our  most recent evaluation of internal  control  over
     financial  reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the  audit
     committee  of  the  registrant's board of directors  (or  persons
     performing similar functions):

     (a)  All  significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
          design  or  operation  of  internal control  over  financial
          reporting  which  are reasonably likely to adversely  affect
          the  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize  and
          report financial information; and

     (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
          or  other  employees  who  have a significant  role  in  the
          registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February 15, 2005

/s/ John Bekkers
Title:  Chief Executive Officer


                              EXHIBIT 31

                             CERTIFICATION

I,  Stephen  O. West, Principal Financial Officer of Gold  Kist  Inc.,
certify that:

1.   I  have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Gold  Kist
     Inc.;

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 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 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-15(e)  and  15d-
     15(e)) for the registrant and have:

     (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or  caused
          such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
          our   supervision,  to  ensure  that  material   information
          relating  to  the  registrant,  including  its  consolidated
          subsidiaries,  is  made known to us by others  within  those
          entities,  particularly  during the  period  in  which  this
          report is being prepared;

     (b)  Evaluated  the effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure
          controls  and  procedures and presented in this  report  our
          conclusion   about  the  effectiveness  of  the   disclosure
          controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
          by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (c)  Disclosed  in  this  report any change in  the  registrant's
          internal  control  over  financial reporting  that  occurred
          during  the  registrant's most recent  fiscal  quarter  (the
          registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an  annual
          report)  that  has  materially affected,  or  is  reasonably
          likely  to  materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal
          control over financial reporting; and

5.   The  registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed,
     based  on  our  most recent evaluation of internal  control  over
     financial  reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the  audit
     committee  of  the  registrant's board of directors  (or  persons
     performing similar functions):

     (a)  All  significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
          design  or  operation  of  internal control  over  financial
          reporting  which  are reasonably likely to adversely  affect
          the  registrant's ability to record, process, summarize  and
          report financial information; and

     (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
          or  other  employees  who  have a significant  role  in  the
          registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February 15, 2005

/s/ Stephen O. West
Title:  Chief Financial Officer