Ordinary Chinese may soon be able to have a taste of the
astronaut life when food designed for China's taikonauts lands in
supermarkets.
The Scientific Research and Training Center for Chinese
Astronauts and a Shanghai food company had developed chocolate and
desserts for taikonauts and the products would be on the shelves by
the end of the year, said Chen Bin, head of the center's food and
nutrition branch.
"The two items will also been added to the space menu for the
next manned space flight Shenzhou VII, the third in China's manned
space program in 2008," said Chen, who calls himself "the space
chef".
Chen's center has developed more than 60 space dishes, including
staple foods, meat and vegetable dishes, fruit and desserts and it
began cooperation with food companies on mass production in
2006.
"Following our technology and quality standards, the companies
produce food at their workshops with their equipment. The
production was supervised by our nutritionists," said Chen.
Chen was confident of the market prospects of the space food,
which boast high standards on quality and nutrition, and are
convenient to carry.
The food eaten daily by China's first three astronauts during
missions in 2003 and 2005 weighed around 1.75 kilograms with
packaging, less than two thirds of an average adult's daily food
consumption, but enough to provide 2,400 calories of energy
required by an astronaut.
"They are especially suitable for outdoor activities, such as
polar region expeditions, mountain climbing and traveling," said
Chen.
He said the center had adopted a series of "strict" criteria in
ingredient selection and processing to ensure food safety, which
would be another attraction for consumers after a spate of recent
food scandals.
"For example, we required the air in the food workshop should be
as clean as that in a pharmaceutical workshop," said Chen.
Chen and his colleagues worked hard to develop new recipes and
improve the food flavors. Their latest works include roast pork,
stewed duck breast, taro-stuffed moon cake and frozen cantaloup
chips.
"The astronauts are not picky about the taste, but most of them
prefer spicy food which is more appealing after rigorous training.
So more Sichuan-flavored dishes may appear on their menu," said
Chen.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2007)