Food caterers take a lot of effort and time to prepare meals for people. Gategroup North America’s kitchen in Hapeville, Georgia, USA, prepares most meals for international flights departing from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Its 200 employees prepare up to 5,000 in-flight meals for passengers of Air France, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, according to the news site GPB.

Three teams of chefs lead the meal preparations. At the top level are executive chefs who conceptualize meals. Under them are design chefs who draft menus from their ideas for various meal cycles throughout the year. The third-level chefs execute the plans daily.

Just a single chef can’t do such a huge task. However, a chef in Ghana tried it on a small scale to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for an individual cooking marathon.

Irish chef Alan Fisher currently holds the GWR for a cook-a-thon with 119 hours and 57 minutes of non-stop cooking. On 1 February, Ebenezer Smith started his cook-a-thon, working from a kitchen at the Amadia Shopping Center in Spintex, Accra.

Smith prepared food for mall visitors and celebrities in an adjacent tent and ended his cooking on 6 March. He logged a total of 820 hours and 25 minutes of cooking.

Smith held a press conference announcing the new GWR for a one-person cook-a-thon that he established. He showed a framed GWR certification of the feat, and performers graced the celebration.

Police arrived and arrested him as the mall complained that Smith breached their contract, that it would sponsor the event on Smith’s promise to set a GWR.

GWR then disputed Smith’s claim and said the GWR plaque he presented at the press conference did not come from them. Likewise, Smith’s alleged world record is not on the GWR website.

Smith disputed the GWR’s statement, insisting he applied for a certification. The controversial chef has posted a video on social media showing him apologizing to the public.

In tears and on his knees, GhanaWeb quoted Smith as saying, “I have committed a great sin, and I don’t even deserve to live anymore, but please forgive me and my entire family.”

Smith admitted that GWR did not approve his application but still went ahead with the cook-a-thon.

“I registered, but I wasn’t approved. I just wanted an opportunity to show the world the talent God has given me. I wanted the opportunity to show the world my passion for cooking and gain fame. I am sorry,” he added, according to GhanaWeb.