Whakatane chocolate log takes world record

It's official. Whakatane is the home of the world's longest chocolate log.

Created by bakers at New World the massive cake, 35.79 metres long and weighing 77.976 kilograms, won a place in the Guinness Book of Records after its measurements were verified this week.

The previous record was a mere 10 metres long.

Containing 3200 eggs and 33 kilograms of flour, the log was baked in sections which were assembled in a length of nylon guttering before being iced, decorated with fresh strawberries and displayed in the supermarket's carpark.

The initial aim of creating a 50 metre log had been abandoned as too time-consuming, bakery manager Carla Hird said.

The brainchild of Whakatane store operations manager Rosemary Sloman, the successful record bid would benefit Canteen, an organisation for teenage cancer sufferers and their siblings.

Slices were sold for gold coin donations and the money would be used to send a Canteen representative on a leadership training course.

Mrs Sloman, who has had a brush with cancer herself, said challenging the world record had involved meeting strict criteria.

"We had to prove both the recipe and the weights and it took six weeks to register the attempt with Guinness."