BEIJING - COMING soon to China: A taste of the taikonaut life.

Dishes such as roast pork and stewed duck specially concocted for taikonauts - the Chinese term for astronauts - will be sold in supermarkets by the end of the year, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The Scientific Research and Training Centre for Chinese Astronauts and a Shanghai-based food company have developed more than 60 space dishes - including meat, vegetables and desserts - for the space programme.

Confident of the products' appeal, the centre began cooperation with manufacturers on mass production last year, Xinhua said.

The space food is not only tasty, it also provides the 2,400 calories of energy required by an astronaut, said the centre's food and nutrition branch chief Chen Bin.

'They are especially suitable for outdoor activities, such as polar region expeditions, mountain climbing and travelling,' he said.

The centre 'had adopted a series of strict criteria in ingredient selection and processing to ensure food safety' given the country's recurring food woes, he added.

China has also been fighting to improve its image lately after its exports were found to be tainted with potentially dangerous levels of chemicals and toxins.

Mr Chen said the centre had also developed chocolate bars and other desserts for the taikonauts going on the next manned space mission.

'The astronauts are not picky about the taste, but most of them prefer spicy food,' he said. 'So more Sichuan-flavoured dishes may appear on their menu.'

Three taikonauts are expected to take off aboard the Shenzhou VII space capsule next year. The first and second manned space flights took place in 2003 and 2005.

In early space missions, astronauts from the United States and Russia dined on energy bar-like Space Food Sticks and caviar in tubes.

Earlier this year, billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi feasted on a gourmet meal designed by lifestyle guru Martha Stewart that included roast quail, duck breast confit with capers, shredded chicken parmentier, apple fondant pieces, rice pudding with candied fruit, and semolina cake with dried apricots.