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Truffle oil is a modern culinary ingredient used to impart the flavor and aroma of to a dish. The ingredient is commonly used as a finishing oil in a variety of dishes, including truffle French fries, pasta dishes, pizzas, and puréed foods such as mashed potatoes and deviled eggs. Truffle oil is available in all seasons and is significantly less expensive than fresh truffles. This has also led to a market growth in the product and an increase in the availability of truffle-flavored foods.
Truffle oil is controversial as a flavoring ingredient, as nearly all truffle oil is produced from one synthetic flavor compound, and may lack the complex flavors and aromas of fresh truffles.
Some truffle oils are made with the residue of truffles collected or prepared for sale. Many truffle oils are not made from truffles, but instead use manufactured aromatic compounds including 2,4-dithiapentane (one of many aroma active compounds that can be found in some truffle varietals) with an oil base. There are no regulations regarding the labeling of 2,4-dithiapentane and it can legally be called truffle aroma, truffle flavor, truffle concentrate or other similar terms, even though it is not extracted from truffles. In the United States, the ingredient may use the modifiers "organic" or "natural" as long as the components meet the federal requirements for those terms.
The appearance of truffle oils is determined by the base oil, ranging from clear to cloudy and yellow to green. Some include a piece of truffle in the bottle. These pieces can be from any of over 200 different truffle species and may be listed as "black truffle" or "white truffle" even if not actually containing prized culinary varietals such as the black Périgord or Tuber magnatum truffle.
In 2009, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay referred to natural truffle oil as "a chef's dream." In 2011, on the show MasterChef, he called the artificial truffle oil "one of the most pungent, ridiculous ingredients ever known to a chef."
Gareth Renowden, truffle grower and author of The Truffle Book, wrote that "truffle oil and the many truffle-flavored products that have come on to the market in the last few years are not necessarily bad, but they can lead to unrealistic expectations when you encounter the real thing. They offer a consistent experience, one you can guarantee to taste in the dish...they offer a simplified picture, a sort of cartoon version — bright and colourful but ultimately false".
The annual Australian Food Awards, awarded by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, bans the use of 2,4-dithiapentane in entries for truffle-related categories.
In May 2017, a class action lawsuit was brought against Sabatino North America LLC, the largest truffle product manufacturer in the United States, alleging that the company used deceptive labeling implying to consumers that their truffle oils contained black or white truffles, although a DNA analysis confirmed that "Sabatino Truffle Oil does not contain any truffle whatsoever".
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