obscure2k

" bottling the truffle has become big business. In May, four class-action lawsuits filed in New York and California accused Trader Joe’s, Urbani Truffles, Sabatino and Monini of fraud of “false, misleading, and deceptive misbranding” of its truffle oil products. If you look at the labels of these brands’ truffle oils, you’ll find that the ingredients include truffle “aroma” or “flavor” or “essence.” That’s the chemical 2,4-dithiapentane. Also known as bis (methylthio) methane, it supplies a fair imitation of the natural truffle smell."


source: NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/15/o...chemicals.html

frobozzelectric

at least none are used to provide aroma. the aroma compound probably comes from the lab of givaudan or some aroma company.

the bits of truffle they do sometimes include in the bottle is just for show, it contributes no discernible aroma.

some people like it, some people prefer the real thing. most people are not willing to pay the premium for the real thing though.

PsiFighter37

Even in NYC, I have yet to come across a bottle of truffle oil that is actually made from truffles.

aa213bb

Waste of money, IMO.

JBord

Same here in Chicago, or anywhere I've seen it.

milepig

All explains why I hate truffle oil.

Eastbay1K

Truffles are not oil soluble. This is the case whether you are in NYC, or in middle America.

Truffle oil cannot exist in the form one would normally think it would.

And that is the simple truth why truffle oil is an inherent fraud, and scientifically impossible ... if you believe in science.

bensyd

Truffle oil isn't bad, but the flavour can be really overpowering. Are consumers really being misled? McDonald's sell fries with truffle mayo, I can't imagine the average person buying those thinks real truffles have been anywhere near it.

JBord

I would say they are being misled. The label will often say truffle oil, not truffle-flavored oil or something more accurate.

I'm nearly 100% sure that many people buy the product thinking they're getting some amount of actual truffle essence for an affordable price rather than the typical mix of odd chemicals the product usually contains.

Your point is interesting though. If I were to get "truffle-something" in a nice restaurant, I would have an expectation that it contains actual truffles. But whether it's a Michelin restaurant or McDonald's, I think it can be false advertising. One way around it would be to list the actual product brand in the description, such as "made with Bob's Truffle Oil", so that the restaurant is being honest. Perhaps McD's does that somewhere?

bensyd

That's a fair point. I guess it should be like selling processed cheese that has to be called "cheese product" or "fruit drink" v "fruit juice".

I just checked the ingredients and, amazingly, black summer truffles are listed as an ingredient of the "truffle salsa" (is that the grown up version of the truffle shuffle )...

https://mcdonalds.com.au/menu/truffl...n-loaded-fries

JBord

So, they are actually using some amount of real truffles??? I have to say it surprises me, but it does look that way. They don't offer it in the US (at least I've never seen it), so I had never really thought about it.

KitchenChemProf

This is partly correct. Truffles themselves may not be oil soluble but the aromatics in truffles would be (and infused oils rely on this). Still, "Truffle oil" typically has artificial/synthetic flavor compounds and is overpowering (to be precise: yuck). This is quite (or should be) well known.
Here's a nice article (also from NYT) dating back to 2007: Hocus-Pocus, and a Beaker of Truffles

thelark

thanks for saving me the time of pulling that article. Old, old news.

Eastbay1K

And therefore, not news, which is the plural of new.

KitchenChemProf

Precisely (that was my point)