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According to this article on Priceononmics.com entitled There Are No Truffles in Truffle Oil:

Despite the name, most truffle oil does not contain even trace amounts of truffle; it is olive oil mixed with 2,4-dithiapentane, a compound that makes up part of the smell of truffles and is as associated with a laboratory as Californian food is associated with local and organic ingredients. Essentially, truffle oil is olive oil plus truffles’ “disconcerting” smell.

The article further claims that this is because global warming, deforestation, etc have led Italian and French truffle production to crash:

...the production of black truffles in France to decline from roughly 1,320 tons in 1910 to 32 tons today....

However, I feel a little suspicious as the article also says that "the cost of truffles from places like China and the United States are more on par with ordinary mushrooms in terms of prices" which makes it seem entirely plausible that most "truffle oil" could simply be made from cheaper Chinese and US fungi.

Twilight Sparkle
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  • a quick search had some merchants selling truffle oil as "olive oil infused with truffle aroma" - so there's probably some basis for the claim –  Sep 08 '16 at 02:18
  • also: http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/truffle-oil –  Sep 08 '16 at 02:19
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    Anecdote: In Australia, packaged food is required to list the ingredients. I checked the bottle in my pantry. "Olive oil, Black truffle aroma". Hmmm... – Oddthinking Sep 08 '16 at 04:05
  • @HorusKol You can't make oil from mushrooms, of course truffle oil is oil infused with truffles. I think Twilight is asking weither there is [black truffle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuber_melanosporum), in truffle oil. TwilightSparkle -> Is "Is there black truffle in tuffle oil" your question ? – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 05:40
  • Truffles production (in France, at least) crashed not because a decline of demand, but because of decades of overproduction. Truffle is a wild mushroom, and there's just not as much of it as there used to be. Sources : Grew up near [Lalbenque](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalbenque#La_truffe), ate truffles, cooked truffles, family owns woods where black truffles can be found. – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 05:42
  • @SeriousSarah infusing with truffle aroma (2,4-dithiapentane or "natural flavours" as it is usually listed on truffle oil) is not the same as infusing truffles... –  Sep 08 '16 at 05:49
  • @HorusKol When you infuse truffles in oil, the aroma goes from the mushroom to the oil (the same thing happens when you infuse tea in hot water). You can also extract the aroma from the mushroom and put it in the oil, but you get the same end result : the aroma being in the oil. – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 06:01
  • @SeriousSarah if I infuse tea into hot water, I have "water infused with tea" not "water infused with tea aroma" - similarly, if I infuse truffles into oil I should have "oil infused with truffle". Since the product is described as "oil infused with truffle aroma", it's clear that no actual truffles were harmed in the making of that particular oil. If an extract of the truffle were used, the label would be "infused with truffle extract". –  Sep 08 '16 at 06:09
  • @HorusKol Ah ok... I didn't get the nuance. I thought the "Truffle aroma" you mentioned was supposed to be made from truffles (like the truffle aroma you can use to put in omelets and stuff). – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 06:16
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    @HorusKol Just to be sure I understood : in your country, ingredient lists don't make a difference between "aroma" and "artifcial aroma" ? – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 07:42
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    Wait what is your question? Do you think that truffle oil was previously made directly from truffles or are you questioning the fact that previously truffle oil was made from other oil + truffles and now it is from other oils + artificial flavors? AFAIK truffle oil was **never** made directly from truffles, it has always been just an oil with added truffle aroma in some way. – Bakuriu Sep 08 '16 at 10:11
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    @SeriousSarah: http://www.trufflearoma.com/about says *"Truffle aroma, also known as truffle essence or truffle flavor, contains the same aromatic molecules found in fresh white or black truffles that gives off their pungent smell"* and *"truffle essence was invented to give chefs a substitute that would match the taste* [of fresh truffles] *at an affordable cost"* which suggests to me that the molecules found in in truffles were identified and then produced another way to make truffle aroma – Henry Sep 08 '16 at 11:11
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    @Henry Ok, so the words "aroma" and "essence" don't have the same meanings depending on the country (and the legislation). – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 11:32
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    @SeriousSarah are you sure you know the meaning of aroma and essence? They are not the same as extract –  Sep 08 '16 at 14:14
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    @HorusKol I assumed they had the same meanings as "arôme" and "essence" in French. On ingredient lists, a distinction is made between "arôme" and "artificial arôme" (artificial aroma), and "essence" basically means essential oil, which is a natural extract. – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 14:28
  • Well, here in Australia, and looking at Wikipedia, essence and aroma are typically artificial products made to match a desired flavour - such as essence of vanilla is artificially produced vanillin –  Sep 08 '16 at 14:31
  • @HorusKol Yes, it confirms the difference in meaning. Where I live, both "essence de vanille" (vanilla essence) and "extrait de vanille" (vanilla extract) are made with vanilla, and artificial aroma is labeled either "arôme artificiel" or "vaniline". Thank you for explaining the meaning in English (and sorry for drowning the comments thread). – Babika Babaka Sep 08 '16 at 14:57

2 Answers2

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In France, the difference between a natural and an artificial aromas is the simple 2-letter word "de": for a natural aroma, "arôme de truffe" is written on the label (i.e. aroma from truffles), whereas for artificial aroma, "arôme truffe" (i.e. truffle aroma) is indicated.

According to the DGCCRF (French national agency for consumers and against frauds) noted in August 2013 that there was a 60% decrease in fake "natural aroma oils" in France.

SteffX
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There is no such thing as 'truffle oil' in the sense of oil obtained from truffles, as fungi contain almost no fat.

Truffle oil is therefore naturally or artificially flavoured oil, typically olive oil.

A quick look at UK supermarkets suggests a typical 'truffle oil' is little or no more expensive than oils flavoured with more prosaic substances, such as chillis. http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda-compare-prices/Oils_And_Vinegar/La_Espanola_Truffle_Flavour_Olive_Oil_250ml.html However, the ingredients claim to contain 'truffle extract'.

According to various sources 'truffle extract' is of dubious definition

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/dining/16truf.html http://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/truffle-oil-a-chemical-concoction-disguised-as-gourmet-delicacy.html

The process of creating 'truffle flavour' is not really a clear one, albeit that in the case of orange juice (which obviously has a lot more waste, in the form of peels and pulp, than truffles), chemical orange flavours are isolated from orange waste and added to the juice.

It is possible that various processing stages on raw truffles can elicit a large amount of flavour compounds.

thelawnet
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