Ruth LovettSmith founded Best Allergy Sites after becoming frustrated at the lack of a central place to gain insight, information, and knowledge about allergies from management to products available.
As the mother of a child with multiple life threatening food allergies as well as environmental allergies; Ruth quickly realized how difficult it was to find appropriate and safe products, information, as well as support.
Shortly after her son was diagnosed with life threatening food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, sesame and soy; Ruth spent a year working on a business plan and perfecting recipes with the intent of opening Little Monkeys Baking Company–an allergen free line of shelf stable baked goods.
At the time there were very few allergy friendly options and numerous companies were manufacturing their allergy friendly products in facilities with allergens. Ruth thought it was important to make an allergen free product in an allergen free facility and went about locating and preparing a space.
With two and three year old boys at home, Ruth quickly came to the realization that while the allergy community desperately needed these types of products–her young sons needed her more. She put Little Monkeys Baking Company on the back burner with the thought of revisiting the idea in the future.
Flash forward a few years and Ruth was met with the challenges of enrolling a food allergic child in public school. More than a year was spent in advocating and working with the school to come up with a way to keep her food allergic son safe and included. During this time Ruth became involved with the Asthma Allergy Foundation of America and later volunteered to become a local support group team leader with the New England chapter.
It quickly became clear that while years had passed and there were now many allergy friendly companies, websites and products available–there was no single resource to go to that listed them all in a user friendly manner.
Best Allergy Sites was formed as a central resource for allergy sufferers and their friends and family to gain access to numerous companies, products, support, and up to date allergy news, product recalls, and information–with a mission to serve as both an allergy hub and portal into the allergy community.
Ruth is not only a mother to a food allergic child but is also an allergy sufferer and allergy advocate. She has done extensive research regarding food allergies and disability law, as well as food manufacturing and labeling laws.
She is still an active volunteer support group team leader with the Asthma Allergy Foundation of America and is also active with several other health and allergy community websites in which she contributes by writing and moderating. She has most recently helped to spread allergy awareness and implement food allergy policies and protocols in schools.
Ruth currently lives in a small and quaint Massachusetts town with her husband, 2 sons and hypoallergenic Wheaten Terrier Finley. When she’s not feverishly updating Best Allergy Sites, she’s either blogging on green living at Green Peony, working in her organic vegetable garden or starting and finishing numerous art projects.
