An independent laboratory study of the BAX for Screening/E. coli O157:H7 kit was conducted at the National Food Laboratory, Inc., Dublin, CA, to complete AOAC Performance Tested Method certification. The BAX system kit was compared with the BAM culture method and a modified BAM culture method for detection of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef. The BAX system kit detected the target organism at levels approximately 10-fold lower than those that gave positive BAM results. This study validated product claims, and Performance Tested Method status was granted.