Document:

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                                                            Exhibit 10(a)(xxiii)

                        Stock Option Award and Agreement

[DATE]

Dear _______________:

H. J. Heinz Company is pleased to advise you that, effective ______, ____, you
have been granted options ("Options") to purchase _________ shares of H. J.
Heinz Company Common Stock, at an exercise price of $ _______ per share, in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the stock option plan under which
the Options were granted (the "Plan"), and a copy of which is attached together
with a copy of the Prospectus. The Options are also granted under and governed
by the terms and conditions of this letter agreement ("Agreement"), which shall
control in the event of a conflict with the terms and conditions of the Plan.
For purposes of this Agreement, the "Company" shall refer to H. J. Heinz Company
and its Affiliated Companies (as defined in Section 4 below) in the United
States, Canada and throughout the world. Unless otherwise specifically defined
herein, all other capitalized terms used in this Agreement shall have the same
defined meanings as provided in the H.J. Heinz Company Fiscal Year 2003 Stock
Incentive Plan (the "2003 Stock Incentive Plan"), a copy of which is included as
Exhibit A to the 2003 Stock Incentive Plan Prospectus that is attached hereto.

1.   The Options are Non-Statutory Options, as defined in the Plan. The Options
     will vest in _________________ _____________ on _________, and
     will expire on __________, subject to earlier expiration in accordance with
     the terms of this Agreement or the Plan.

2.   Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Agreement, the exercise period for
     the Options, including the effect of the termination of your employment
     with the Company or a "Change in Control", shall be governed by and
     determined in accordance with Section 8(B) of the 2003 Stock Incentive
     Plan, which is incorporated herein by reference and which shall control
     over and supersede any additional, different or inconsistent terms or
     provisions contained in the Plan; provided, however, that in the event of
     termination of your employment without "Cause", the "Expiration Date" shall
     be five years after the "Date of Termination" or the date of expiration
     specified in Section 1 above, whichever is sooner.

3.   You agree that you shall not, during the term of your employment by the
     Company and for 12 months after termination of your employment, regardless
     of the reason for the termination, either directly or indirectly, solicit,
     take away or attempt to solicit or take away any other employee of the
     Company, either for your own purpose or for any other person or entity. You
     further agree that you shall not, during the term of your employment by the
     Company or at any time thereafter, use or disclose Confidential Information
     (as defined in Section 4 below) except as directed by, and in furtherance
     of the business purposes of, the

<PAGE>

     Company. You acknowledge that the breach or threatened breach of this
     paragraph 3 will result in irreparable injury to the Company for which
     there is no adequate remedy at law because, among other things, it is not
     readily susceptible of proof as to the monetary damages that would result
     to the Company. You consent to the issuance of any restraining order or
     preliminary restraining order or injunction with respect to any conduct by
     you that is directly or indirectly a violation or a threatened violation of
     this paragraph. Any breach by you of the provisions of this paragraph 3
     will, at the option of the Company and in addition to all other rights and
     remedies available to the Company at law, in equity or under this
     Agreement, result in the forfeiture of all unexercised options granted to
     you under this Agreement as of the date of such breach.

4.   As used in this paragraph 4, the following terms shall have the respective
     indicated meanings:

     "Affiliated Company or Companies" means any person, corporation, limited
     liability company, partnership or other entity controlling, controlled by
     or under common control with the Company.

     "Confidential Information" means technical or business information not
     readily available to the public or generally known in the trade, including
     but not limited to inventions; ideas; improvements; discoveries;
     developments; formulations; ingredients; recipes; specifications; designs;
     standards; financial data; sales, marketing and distribution plans,
     techniques and strategies; customer and supplier information; equipment;
     mechanisms; manufacturing plans; processing and packaging techniques; trade
     secrets and other confidential information, knowledge, data and know-how of
     the Company, whether or not they originated with you, or information which
     the Company received from third parties under an obligation of
     confidentiality.

     "Conflicting Product" means any product or process of any person or
     organization, other than the Company, in existence or under development,
     (1) that competes with a product or process of the Company upon or with
     which you shall have worked during the two years prior to the termination
     of your employment with the Company or (2) whose use or marketability could
     be enhanced by application to it of Confidential Information acquired by
     you in connection with your employment by the Company during such two year
     period. For purposes of this definition, it shall be conclusively presumed
     that you have knowledge of information to which you have been directly
     exposed through actual receipt or review of memorandum or documents
     containing such information or through actual attendance at meetings at
     which such information was discussed or disclosed.

     "Conflicting Organization" means any person or organization that is engaged
     in or about to become engaged in research on or the development,
     production,

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     marketing or selling of or the use in production, marketing or sale of a
     Conflicting Product.

     In partial consideration for the Options granted to you hereunder, you
     agree that, for a period of eighteen (18) months following the date of the
     termination of your employment with the Company, you shall not render
     services, directly or indirectly, as a director, officer, employee, agent,
     consultant or otherwise to any Conflicting Organization in any geographic
     area or territory in which such Conflicting Organization is engaged in or
     about to become engaged in the research on or the development, production,
     marketing or sale of or the use in production, marketing or sale of a
     Conflicting Product. The foregoing limitation does not apply to a
     Conflicting Organization whose business is diversified and that, as to that
     part of its business to which you render services, is not engaged in the
     development, production, marketing, use or sale of a Conflicting Product,
     provided that the Company shall receive separate written assurances
     satisfactory to the Company from you and the Conflicting Organization that
     you shall not render services during such period with respect to a
     Conflicting Product or directly or indirectly provide or reveal
     Confidential Information to such organization. If you shall render services
     to any Conflicting Organization other than as expressly permitted herein or
     shall provide or reveal Confidential Information to such Conflicting
     Organization, you shall (i) immediately return to the Company the pre-tax
     income resulting from any exercise of the Options or any portion thereof by
     you, unless such exercise occurred more than twelve (12) months prior to
     the date of the termination of your employment; and (ii) forfeit any
     unexercised portion of the Options. You acknowledge and agree that the
     restrictions set forth in this paragraph 4 are reasonable and necessary to
     protect the goodwill and legitimate business interests of the Company and
     to prevent the disclosure of the Company's Confidential Information and
     trade secrets. If any of the provisions herein shall for any reason be
     determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be overly broad as to
     scope of activity, duration or territory, such provision shall be limited
     or reduced so as to be enforceable to the extent compatible with existing
     law.

5.   You acknowledge and agree that nothing in this Agreement, the Plan or the
     2003 Stock Incentive Plan shall confer upon you any right with respect to
     future awards or continuation of your employment, nor shall it constitute
     an employment agreement or interfere in any way with your right or the
     right of the Company to terminate your employment, with or without cause,
     and with or without notice, subject to the terms of any written employment
     contract that you may have with the Company that is signed by both you and
     an authorized representative of the Company.

6.   You consent to the collection, use, and processing of personal data
     (including name, home address and telephone number, identification number
     and number of options held) by the Company or a third party engaged by the
     Company for the purpose of implementing, administering and managing the
     Plan and other stock

<PAGE>

     option plans of the Company (the "Plans"). You further consent to the
     release of personal data (a) to such a third party administrator, which, at
     the option of the Company, may be designated as the exclusive broker in
     connection with the Plans, or (b) to any Affiliated Company, wherever
     located. You hereby waive any data privacy rights with respect to such data
     to the extent that receipt, possession, use, retention, or transfer of the
     data is authorized hereunder.

7.   The Plan is discretionary in nature and the Company may modify, cancel or
     terminate it at any time without prior notice. While stock options may be
     granted under any of the Company's Plans on one or more occasions or even
     on a regular schedule, each grant is a one time event, is not an
     entitlement to an award of grants of stock options in the future, and does
     not create any contractual or other right to receive an award of stock
     options, compensation or benefits in lieu of stock options or any other
     compensation or benefits in the future.

8.   This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
     laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to its choice of
     law provisions.

THIS GRANT OF OPTIONS IS SUBJECT TO YOUR ON-LINE ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

                                        H.J. HEINZ COMPANY

                                        By:
                                            ------------------------------------

Accepted: Signed electronically

Date: Acceptance Date<PAGE>
                                                             Exhibit 10(a)(xxiv)

                        Stock Option Award and Agreement

[DATE]

Dear _______________:

H. J. Heinz Company is pleased to advise you that, effective ______, ____, you
have been granted options ("Options") to purchase _________ shares of H. J.
Heinz Company Common Stock, at an exercise price of $ _______ per share, in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the stock option plan under which
the Options were granted (the "Plan"), and a copy of which is attached together
with a copy of the Prospectus. The Options are also granted under and governed
by the terms and conditions of this letter agreement ("Agreement"), which shall
control in the event of a conflict with the terms and conditions of the Plan.
For purposes of this Agreement, the "Company" shall refer to H. J. Heinz Company
and its Affiliated Companies (as defined in Section 4 below) in the United
States, Canada and throughout the world. Unless otherwise specifically defined
herein, all other capitalized terms used in this Agreement shall have the same
defined meanings as provided in the H.J. Heinz Company Fiscal Year 2003 Stock
Incentive Plan (the "2003 Stock Incentive Plan"), a copy of which is included as
Exhibit A to the 2003 Stock Incentive Plan Prospectus that is attached hereto.

1.   The Options are Non-Statutory Options, as defined in the Plan. The Options
     will vest in __________ _________ _______ on ___________, and
     will expire on __________, subject to earlier expiration in accordance with
     the terms of this Agreement or the Plan.

2.   Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Agreement, the exercise period for
     the Options, including the effect of the termination of your employment
     with the Company or a "Change in Control", shall be governed by and
     determined in accordance with Section 8(B) of the 2003 Stock Incentive
     Plan, which is incorporated herein by reference and which shall control
     over and supersede any additional, different or inconsistent terms or
     provisions contained in the Plan; provided, however, that in the event of
     termination of your employment without "Cause", the "Expiration Date" shall
     be five years after the "Date of Termination" or the date of expiration
     specified in Section 1 above, whichever is sooner.

3.   You agree that you shall not, during the term of your employment by the
     Company and for 12 months after termination of your employment, regardless
     of the reason for the termination, either directly or indirectly, solicit,
     take away or attempt to solicit or take away any other employee of the
     Company, either for your own purpose or for any other person or entity. You
     further agree that you shall not, during the term of your employment by the
     Company or at any time thereafter, use or disclose Confidential Information
     (as defined in Section 4 below) except as directed by, and in furtherance
     of the business purposes of, the

<PAGE>

     Company. You acknowledge that the breach or threatened breach of this
     paragraph 3 will result in irreparable injury to the Company for which
     there is no adequate remedy at law because, among other things, it is not
     readily susceptible of proof as to the monetary damages that would result
     to the Company. You consent to the issuance of any restraining order or
     preliminary restraining order or injunction with respect to any conduct by
     you that is directly or indirectly a violation or a threatened violation of
     this paragraph. Any breach by you of the provisions of this paragraph 3
     will, at the option of the Company and in addition to all other rights and
     remedies available to the Company at law, in equity or under this
     Agreement, result in the forfeiture of all unexercised options granted to
     you under this Agreement as of the date of such breach.

4.   As used in this paragraph 4, the following terms shall have the respective
     indicated meanings:

     "Affiliated Company or Companies" means any person, corporation, limited
     liability company, partnership or other entity controlling, controlled by
     or under common control with the Company.

     "Confidential Information" means technical or business information not
     readily available to the public or generally known in the trade, including
     but not limited to inventions; ideas; improvements; discoveries;
     developments; formulations; ingredients; recipes; specifications; designs;
     standards; financial data; sales, marketing and distribution plans,
     techniques and strategies; customer and supplier information; equipment;
     mechanisms; manufacturing plans; processing and packaging techniques; trade
     secrets and other confidential information, knowledge, data and know-how of
     the Company, whether or not they originated with you, or information which
     the Company received from third parties under an obligation of
     confidentiality.

     "Conflicting Product" means any product or process of any person or
     organization, other than the Company, in existence or under development,
     (1) that competes with a product or process of the Company upon or with
     which you shall have worked during the two years prior to the termination
     of your employment with the Company or (2) whose use or marketability could
     be enhanced by application to it of Confidential Information acquired by
     you in connection with your employment by the Company during such two year
     period. For purposes of this definition, it shall be conclusively presumed
     that you have knowledge of information to which you have been directly
     exposed through actual receipt or review of memorandum or documents
     containing such information or through actual attendance at meetings at
     which such information was discussed or disclosed.

     "Conflicting Organization" means any person or organization that is engaged
     in or about to become engaged in research on or the development,
     production,

<PAGE>

     marketing or selling of or the use in production, marketing or sale of a
     Conflicting Product.

     In partial consideration for the Options granted to you hereunder, you
     agree that, for a period of eighteen (18) months following the date of the
     termination of your employment with the Company, you shall not render
     services, directly or indirectly, as a director, officer, employee, agent,
     consultant or otherwise to any Conflicting Organization in any geographic
     area or territory in which such Conflicting Organization is engaged in or
     about to become engaged in the research on or the development, production,
     marketing or sale of or the use in production, marketing or sale of a
     Conflicting Product. The foregoing limitation does not apply to a
     Conflicting Organization whose business is diversified and that, as to that
     part of its business to which you render services, is not engaged in the
     development, production, marketing, use or sale of a Conflicting Product,
     provided that the Company shall receive separate written assurances
     satisfactory to the Company from you and the Conflicting Organization that
     you shall not render services during such period with respect to a
     Conflicting Product or directly or indirectly provide or reveal
     Confidential Information to such organization. If you shall render services
     to any Conflicting Organization other than as expressly permitted herein or
     shall provide or reveal Confidential Information to such Conflicting
     Organization, you shall (i) immediately return to the Company the pre-tax
     income resulting from any exercise of the Options or any portion thereof by
     you, unless such exercise occurred more than twelve (12) months prior to
     the date of the termination of your employment; and (ii) forfeit any
     unexercised portion of the Options. You acknowledge and agree that the
     restrictions set forth in this paragraph 4 are reasonable and necessary to
     protect the goodwill and legitimate business interests of the Company and
     to prevent the disclosure of the Company's Confidential Information and
     trade secrets. If any of the provisions herein shall for any reason be
     determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be overly broad as to
     scope of activity, duration or territory, such provision shall be limited
     or reduced so as to be enforceable to the extent compatible with existing
     law.

5.   You acknowledge and agree that nothing in this Agreement, the Plan or the
     2003 Stock Incentive Plan shall confer upon you any right with respect to
     future awards or continuation of your employment, nor shall it constitute
     an employment agreement or interfere in any way with your right or the
     right of the Company to terminate your employment, with or without cause,
     and with or without notice, subject to the terms of any written employment
     contract that you may have with the Company that is signed by both you and
     an authorized representative of the Company.

6.   You consent to the collection, use, and processing of personal data
     (including name, home address and telephone number, identification number
     and number of options held) by the Company or a third party engaged by the
     Company for the purpose of implementing, administering and managing the
     Plan and other stock

<PAGE>

     option plans of the Company (the "Plans"). You further consent to the
     release of personal data (a) to such a third party administrator, which, at
     the option of the Company, may be designated as the exclusive broker in
     connection with the Plans, or (b) to any Affiliated Company, wherever
     located. You hereby waive any data privacy rights with respect to such data
     to the extent that receipt, possession, use, retention, or transfer of the
     data is authorized hereunder.

7.   The Plan is discretionary in nature and the Company may modify, cancel or
     terminate it at any time without prior notice. While stock options may be
     granted under any of the Company's Plans on one or more occasions or even
     on a regular schedule, each grant is a one time event, is not an
     entitlement to an award of grants of stock options in the future, and does
     not create any contractual or other right to receive an award of stock
     options, compensation or benefits in lieu of stock options or any other
     compensation or benefits in the future.

8.   This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
     laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to its choice of
     law provisions.

                      U.K. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND WAIVER FORM
                           (INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT)

This Acknowledgement and Waiver Form is incorporated into and made a part of the
Stock Option Award and Agreement (the "Agreement"), under which I have been
awarded a grant of options to purchase shares of H. J. Heinz Company Common
Stock pursuant to the H. J. Heinz Company 1994, 1996 or 2000 Stock Option Plans
and/or the H.J. Heinz Company Fiscal Year 2003 Stock Incentive Plan. I
understand that my award and future awards of stock options, if any, granted to
me under these plans or any future plans (any such plan, the "Plan") are subject
to my on-line acceptance of the Agreement and this Acknowledgement and Waiver
Form. I understand that I will not be able to exercise any of these stock
options until I accept on-line this Acknowledgement and Waiver Form.

The Plan is discretionary in nature and H. J. Heinz Company ("Company") may
modify, cancel, or terminate it at any time without prior notice and without
affecting any vested rights. While stock options may be granted under a Plan on
one or more occasions or even on a regular schedule, each grant is considered a
one time event, is not part of any contractual compensation I may have, and does
not create any contractual or other right to receive an award of stock options,
compensation or benefits in lieu of stock options, or any other compensations or
benefits in the future. The Plan is a voluntary program, and future grants, if
any, will be at the sole discretion of the Company including, but not limited
to, the timing of any grant, the number of stock options, vesting provisions,
and the option price. Awards under a Plan are available to employees only during
the course of their employment relationship in accordance with the terms and

<PAGE>

conditions of the Plan, and awards under a Plan will have no bearing in the
computation of termination indemnities, if any.

As with past awards, if any, the value of the award is an extraordinary item of
compensation outside the scope of any employment contract. As such, the award,
as with past awards, if any, is not part of normal or expected compensation for
purposes of calculating any termination, resignation, severance, redundancy, end
of service payments, bonuses, service awards, pension benefits, retirement
benefits, or similar payments. The award and any vesting of any award cease upon
termination of employment for any reason except as may otherwise be explicitly
provided in the Plan or any written agreement entered into by you and the
Company, including the Grant Agreement. The future value of the underlying
shares of Heinz Common Stock is unknown and cannot be predicted with certainty.

I consent to the collection, use, processing and transfer of data, as described
in this paragraph for the purpose of implementing, managing and administering
the Plan. I understand that the Company, its subsidiaries and my employer hold
for such purpose certain personal information about me, including my name, home
address and telephone number, salary, nationality, job title, any shares of
stock or directorships held in the Company, details of all options or other
entitlement to shares of stock awarded, canceled, exercised, vested, unvested or
outstanding in my favor, my global identification number or social security
number, birth date, hire date, job grade, the location where I work, and any
termination information, such as date of termination and the reason for
termination ("Data"). The Company, its subsidiaries and/or other third parties
assisting the Company will transfer data among themselves as necessary for the
purpose of implementation, administration, and management of my participation in
the Plan. The Company, its subsidiaries, or third parties may be located in the
U.S. or elsewhere. I authorize them to receive, possess, use, retain, and
transfer the Data, in electronic or other form, for the purposes of
implementing, administering, and managing my participation in the Plan,
including transferring such Data as may be required for the administration of
the Plan and/or the subsequent holding of shares of stock on my behalf to a
broker or other third party with whom I may elect to deposit any shares of stock
acquired pursuant to the Plan, but for no other purpose. Each of the data
recipients will maintain security measures to ensure its security and
confidentiality. I hereby waive any data privacy rights I may have with respect
to the Data to the extent of receipt, possession, use, retention or transfer of
the Data authorized hereunder.

I understand that I may, at any time, view Data, require any necessary
amendments to it, or withdraw the consents with respect to the Data contained
herein by written notice addressed and delivered to the General Counsel or
Secretary of the Company. I understand that withdrawal of such consent may
affect my ability to participate in the Plan and/or result in the forfeiture of
any awards, whether vested or unvested, made to me under the Plan.

The Plan and the Agreement govern all aspects of my award, and the provisions of
the Plan are summarized in the Plan prospectus. Additional copies of the Plan
documents

<PAGE>

may be obtained from the Company. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the
Plan is subject to U.S. law, and the interpretation of the Plan and my rights
under the Plan will be governed by applicable U.S. law as specified in the
Agreement.

I understand and agree that (A) at the date of exercise of these stock options,
I will be liable for income tax on any gain that arises - that is, any excess of
market value of the shares at the date of exercise over the total acquisition
price payable for the shares; (B) in addition, subject to the arrangements made
relating to my international assignment regarding payment of taxes, I will be
responsible for any U.K. National Insurance Contributions (employer's and
employee's) that arise on the exercise of my option; and (C) the Company will
supply details of the exercise to the Inland Revenue, but I will remain under an
obligation to make a return of any gain in my annual tax return.

I also understand and agree that, subject to the arrangements made relating to
my international assignment regarding payment of taxes, I will be responsible
for paying to, or reimbursing, the Company or any other company by which I may
be employed for any amounts for which it becomes liable to account in respect of
my U.K. income tax (by way of the PAYE system) and employee's and employer's
National Insurance Contribution incurred upon the exercise of my stock.

I acknowledge that I have read and understand the foregoing.

THIS GRANT OF OPTIONS IS SUBJECT TO YOUR ON-LINE ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND
CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT AND U.K. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND WAIVER FORM
(INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT).

                                        H.J. HEINZ COMPANY

                                        By:
                                            ------------------------------------

Accepted: Signed electronically

Date: Acceptance Date

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