Anheuser-Busch has received label approval for Bud Select 55 seven-oz. bottles.

The new package, to my knowledge, will set a new mark for low calories in beer with 32.

Three 7 oz. bottles of Bud Select 55 equal about the same amount of calories as a single slice of bread!

So, how long until we get a zero calorie beer?

Last year, columnist, Don Russell, wrote about the possibility. But how?

Synthetic alcohol.

Researchers at Imperial College London, in England, are working on it now, using chemicals related to the anti-anxiety drug Valium. The substance has the same impact on the brain as alcohol, according to reports that say it provides “a feeling of well-being and relaxation.”

Synthetic alcohol doesn’t have calories.

So if you are wondering how AB and SABMiller will recover sagging sales domestically, a zero-calorie beer 9eventually) may be the answer.