Iranians Scoff at Sandwich Record Bid

Maybe it looked too delicious to resist or perhaps the hours of waiting had simply provoked the appetites of spectators beyond control.

Whatever the reason, Iran's eccentric bid to set a world record for making the biggest-ever ostrich sandwich appeared to end in failure today after the evidence was eaten by the hungry watching crowds.

Organizers were trying to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by producing a 1,500 meter-long sandwich containing 1,000kg of ostrich meat. More than 1,000 cooks laboured from early morning in Tehran's Mellat park to assemble the monster sandwich.

But as soon as their task was completed, popular enthusiasm overwhelmed the need for attention to detail as crowds began devouring the snack before its measurements could be verified.

Chaotic scenes ensued as the sandwich was rapidly gobbled up, leaving three Guinness representatives present bewildered and unsure if a new standard had been set.

With a battery of local and international television crews on hand, organizers voiced the hope that video footage would be accepted as proof that the previous record of 1,378 meters, set in Italy in May this year, had been broken.

"We still think the sandwich will be recorded in the Guinness book because of all the evidence and footage that we will send them," Parvin Shariati, a spokesperson for the organizers, told Reuters.

The event was organized jointly by Tehran municipality's women's committee along with industrial ostrich farmers and food and catering groups as part of the city's second international food and health festival.

Besides setting records, the long-term goal was to create a new cultural appetite for ostrich, which is lower in fat and cholesterol than other meats traditionally popular in Iran. Today's overwhelming response may indicate that the promoters have succeeded more quickly in that aim than they dared hope.