This year Tehran, next year Melbourne?

A bid by Iranian cooks to produce the world?s longest sandwich crumbled the other day when hunger got the better of the assembled crowd and they moved in and ate it before judges representing the Guinness Book of Records had a chance to cast their tape measure over the entry.

The event was part of a food festival in Tehran and a bid to beat the previous record of 1378 metres set in Italy earlier in the year.

It took two days to prepare the 1.4 metric tons of ostrich meat, chicken, mayonnaise, mushrooms, onions, garlic, spices and bread to make the 1500 metre sandwich.

On the day the bread (foot long flat loaves laid end to end) was set out by more than 1000 volunteers and the crowd had already been waiting three hours. They had a further long wait while the filling was added.

Unfortunately, crowd control didn?t seem to figure in the record bid and citizens were within reaching distance of the action as the sandwich was finished. Drooling by this stage, they surged forward and grabbed. The lengthy lunch vanished down the assembled throats in record time.

Organisers are hoping video evidence will be enough to verify their effort.

Local ostrich farmers, keen to promote their produce, had donated the ostrich meat in order to present it to a wider audience as a healthy alternative to meat such as lamb. It?s a little early to see if they are celebrating, given the speed with which the crowd conducted their ostrich-tasting.

With Melbourne?s Food and Wine Festival scheduled for next March, this could be a great opportunity for another attempt on the record and a chance for local producers to showcase their wares ? with the crowd well corralled behind sturdy barriers.

Photos: Reuters, AP