USA: Light-beer sales will surpass regular beer in the U.S. by next year as low-carbohydrate diets such as Atkins and South Beach become more popular, according to market- research firm Mintel International Group Ltd. Almost 30 % of Americans now consume light or low- carbohydrate beer, such as Anheuser-Busch Cos.'s Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, compared to the 27 % who drink regular beers like Budweiser, Mintel said in a statement e-mailed from its Chicago office, Bloomberg posted on June 10.

Competition for low-carbohydrate beer drinkers led to squabbles last month between SABMiller Plc and larger rival Anheuser-Busch. SABMiller, which has South African roots, promotes its Miller Lite as lower in carbohydrates than Bud Light and has poked fun at Budweiser's ``King of Beers'' slogan in commercials. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch responded with ads describing Miller as foreign-owned.

“The low-carb phenomenon is important and Anheuser-Busch has had a lot of success on that with Michelob Ultra, but the low- carb impact on overall shipments may be starting to peak,'' Mark Swartzberg, a beverage analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc. in New York, said yesterday in a television interview.

Higher sales of Michelob Ultra helped boost first-quarter profit at Anheuser-Busch, the world's biggest brewer, by 13 percent. SABMiller, the world's No. 2, said last month profit more than doubled as a result of Miller Lite sales in the six months through March 31.

Beers that are low in calories or carbohydrates last year accounted for 45 % of the U.S. beer market, valued by Mintel at $40 billion, excluding bar sales and imported brews.

Drinkers of beers including Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Light consumed an average 5.7 beers in the past month, while consumers of regular beer drank five beers, Mintel said. “Regular beers have faced challenges with the rise in popularity of low-carb diets, particularly since 2000,'' Mintel said. It expects demand for light and low-carbohydrate beers to help expand the U.S. beer market by 14 percent within four years.

Almost half of all Americans drink beer and Hispanics drink 12 % more light beer than average, Mintel said. Estimates of the number of American adherents to the diet popularized by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, though, vary widely.

The Valen Group, a Cincinnati consulting firm, conducted an e-mail survey in December that put the share of U.S adults controlling carbohydrates at 28 %. A February survey by Opinion Dynamics Corp., a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research firm, showed that as many as 24 million Americans, or 11 % of the country's adult population, may be on low-carbohydrate diets.

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