One of the key actions which IFH has undertaken has been the development of a risk-based (or HACCP-based) approach to home hygiene (targeted hygiene). This approach has been used successfully for controlling microbial quality in food and other manufacturing environments, and is now being introduced as a means to control hospital-acquired infections. The risk-based or targeted approach has been used by IFH as the basis for making evidence-based decisions about home hygiene and hygiene procedures.
The concept of “targeted hygiene” also provides a way to address the various “hygiene issues” such as those related to the hygiene hypothesis and the concerns about antimicrobial resistance. Whilst targeted hygiene was originally developed by IFH as an effective approach to hygiene practice in the home and community, it also provides an excellent framework for building sustainability into hygiene. Through prudent and focussed use of hygiene products and processes, it intrinsically minimises environmental impacts, minimises any risks of encouraging the development of antibiotic resistance through low level biocide exposure. It also seeks, as far as possible, to sustain "normal" levels of exposure to the microbial flora of our environment to the extent that is important to build a balanced immune system.