Latest news with #truffle
ABC News
6 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Oberon truffiere first in Australia certified free from banned chemical
As Australia's truffle industry continues to grow, a truffiere on the New South Wales Central Tablelands has become the first in the country to be certified free of a banned residual chemical. Japan rejected several shipments of truffles from Australia in 2023 due to detections of organochlorine (OC) over the country's maximum residue limits. OC is a chemical that has been banned in Australia since the 1990s and is typically found in various pesticides. Japan, Australia's second-largest export market for truffles, has a three-strikes rule whereby if there are three detections of OC, the entire Australian industry would be banned from exporting truffles to their country. In response to the first detection, the Australian Truffle Industry Association (ATIA) introduced the 2025 National Soils Testing Protocol, certifying truffieres were free from OC. The testing is part of a recently introduced broader program of best practice called TruffleCare. Redground Australia, an Oberon-based truffiere — otherwise simply known as a truffle grower — has been issued the first certificate of compliance under ATIA's National Soils Testing Protocol for Residues of Persistent Chemicals. "It means our customers, our clientele, can be assured that the product that they are receiving, whether it's in Australia or overseas, is clean and free of residues," said the owner and managing director of Redground Australia, Jill O'Grady. While Ms O'Grady said it was a lengthy process to secure the certificate — including getting accredited soil tests and looking at where their trees had come from — it was a vital step for industry. ATIA vice-president Noel Fitzpatrick said the certification gave exporters confidence in their truffles. "This is going to become more and more important over time as we build up export markets, but also the farms within Australia," he said. Truffles are a subterranean fruit of fungi growing on the roots of host trees and are often used as a flavour enhancer on top of savoury dishes. Despite only beginning to market truffles 25 years ago, Australia is the fourth-largest producer in the world, growing an estimated 20 tonnes of truffles per year. This has grown significantly over the past few decades, with production projected to double or triple within the next 10 years. Mr Fitzpatrick said creating the TruffleCare program was vital to ensuring each Australian truffle business produced a high-level product. "We're always looking at quality assurance in the industry so we can maintain our standing on the global market and make sure that we are leaving no stone unturned to produce the best quality that we can to maintain those markets," he said. The Australian truffle industry is estimated to have a gross value of $40 million per year and is made up of about 400 growers. Seventy per cent of growers are in the southern forests region of south-west Western Australia, according to Agrifutures. Truffles in general prefer warm summers and cold winters, with some incidence of frost and deep, well-draining and high pH soils. Because of this, most Australian truffieres generally need to modify soils. Decades ago, farmers would use insecticides such as Dieldrin and DDT to kill and deter pests in the soil from eating their crops. These were all part of the OC (organochlorine) family, which Australia banned in the 1990s. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said OCs generally resisted degradation by chemical, physical or biological means, meaning they were toxic to humans and other animals. OCs are said to have serious short and long-term impacts at low concentrations, as well as non-lethal effects such as damage to the immune and reproductive systems. Despite being banned for decades, the chemical has a residual effect, potentially taking hundreds of years to deplete from the soil.
ABC News
02-08-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Truffle growers concerned manufactured flavouring misleading as demand for raw product grows
The wet, wintry days are in full swing in southern Australia and truffle hunting season is well underway. Australia is now the fourth-largest truffle producer in the world, exporting more than 11 tonnes valued at $9 million in 2023. The demand for the expensive but flavoursome fungus continues to rise but growers and wholesalers are concerned consumers do not know what truffles really taste like. In the Strathbogie ranges in north-east Victoria, basenji dogs Audrey and Winnie are busy sniffing the ground in search of truffle in exchange for a treat. David and Kate McConnell started growing truffles in 2007 after planting an orchard of oak trees. The couple said the rise of synthetic truffle flavour is worrying, considering how much work goes into producing the fungus. "It's something that's a concern from a marketing perspective, definitely," Mr McConnell said. "The idea is to promote more enjoyment in actually experiencing a real truffle, which is what we try to do." Simon Friend grades and sells truffles out of Melbourne and said alarm bells go off in his mind when people describe the flavour as "strong". "As soon as I hear that my initial thought is that they haven't had any real truffle experience," Mr Friend said. He is worried people who have tasted synthetic truffle flavour do not know that it is different to a fresh truffle. "It's a misnomer," Mr Friend said. "There's no real truffle in truffle oil. People don't know that they are actually experiencing a synthetic flavour. Truffle oils are typically made by infusing a flavour often referred to on the bottle as an "aroma" or "essence". There are no laws in Australia around the use of synthetic flavours in products, but Mr Friend is worried that consumers are being misled. "It's the same with vanilla in a huge way. Caviar, and maple syrup too," he said. "Consumers need to understand there's a tremendous amount of work going to getting a beautiful truffle on a table, or in their butter." David McConnell admits truffle growing can feel like a bit of a gamble each year. "The interesting thing about truffles is the dog indicates where they are and until we uncover it we don't know if it's ripe or not," Mr McConnell said. "You buy the trees inoculated with truffle spores and then you cross your fingers and hope that in four to six years that you'll be successful. Because truffles are grown underground, growers must train dogs to sniff out the ripe ones before they can dig them up. Mr McConnell said the fungi did not ripen with time once they were picked so the dogs needed to get the smell correct straight away. The Strathbogie ranges are ideal for growing truffles with high rain, hot summers and very cold winters. However, seasonal conditions this year have been very dry and the truffles have been a bit smaller than usual. "There is nothing like rain from the sky. It's been a challenge to keep the soil moist this year," Mr McConnell said. "But the demand is growing. We've had our truffles sent all over the world."
CNA
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Eat, Drink, Singapore - Aroma Truffle's limited edition snacks
What started in Italy's truffle fields is now one of Singapore's proudest snack brands. Aroma Truffle brings bold flavours, real ingredients, and that unmistakable truffle aroma to chips, popcorn, and more. Cheryl Goh speaks with Kayson Chan, Co-Founder, Aroma Truffle
Times
06-06-2025
- Times
Diner blamed ‘runaway chocolate truffle' after restaurant slip
A home counties restaurant with a 'field to fork' philosophy of fine dining was sued for £100,000 after a customer claimed to have slipped on a 'runaway truffle'. Rosina Malik told a judge that she twisted her ankle and broke her right wrist after falling at Chapter One, a Michelin Guide-listed restaurant on the London–Kent border that advertised itself as being committed to 'sustainability' to the point of having beehives on its roof. The 62-year-old diner claimed that at the end of her meal at the restaurant on Farnborough Common, she stood to adjust her dress and then slipped on a caramel-filled chocolate truffle, which had been 'dropped but not retrieved' by a waiter. Malik, from Croydon, south London, sued the restaurant's owners, Simply Chapters, for up to £100,000 in damages over the effects of the incident in 2020. Lawyers for the restaurant did not dispute that a truffle was dropped but they said managers denied liability, insisting that Malik had not actually stepped on it. A judge at Central London county court has backed the company, finding that Malik's right shoe had 'no contact' with the truffle, meaning she was not entitled to compensation At the court hearing, Malik argued that she was left 'in shock' after her fall, which resulted in painful injuries to her ankle and wrist. The truffle was said to have been among a selection offered to her by a waiter that she and her companions decided to take away. But one truffle was said to have fallen while being transferred to a box, with Malik telling the court it rolled off the table and that she subsequently trod on it. Malik said: 'As I stood up straight and tried to fix my dress, my feet started to slip and just gave way under me.' She said that as she rose from the table, she had assumed the waiter had retrieved the truffle and that it was no longer a risk. 'If the waiter knew it was there, he should have brought it to my attention,' Malik said. In his ruling, Judge Nigel Gerald noted that immediately after Malik had fallen, it was assumed that she had slipped on the truffle as it was found on the floor — and some of the chocolate remains were also on the sole of her shoe. However, managers argued that an assessment of the restaurant's CCTV video showed there had been no point where Malik stood on the truffle. Juliet Stevenson, for the restaurant, argued that Malik had fallen after her right ankle 'inverted' and she tripped over, and that the 'runaway truffle' was nothing to do with the fall. The barrister suggested several possibilities for Malik's loss of balance, including the fact that she had consumed up to three glasses of wine, a 'somewhat slippery floor', fatigue at the end of the day and wearing high heels 'no matter how experienced the wearer'. Stevenson added: 'The fact is that people do on occasion lose their balance without clear cause.' The judge ruled that the video did not show any contact between Malik's foot and the truffle. He explained that sticky caramel likely came to be on the sole of her shoe 'after the accident and before her shoes were removed'.
The Independent
06-06-2025
- The Independent
Diner's £100k claim over ‘runaway truffle' after fall at Michelin-listed restaurant
A diner who blamed a "runaway truffle" after slipping in high heels while exiting a Michelin Guide -listed restaurant has lost her fight for £100,000 compensation. Rosina Malik, 62, twisted her ankle and broke her right wrist when she fell at fine dining restaurant Chapter One, in Farnborough Common, Kent, after she stood to adjust her dress at the end of a three-course dinner with two pals. She blamed her accident on having stepped on a "runaway" caramel-filled chocolate truffle, which had been 'dropped but not retrieved' by a waiter during dessert, as she got up from her chair. Mrs Malik, of Castlemaine Road, South Croydon, sued the restaurant's owners, Simply Chapters Ltd, for up to £100,000 in damages over the impact of the October 2020 accident. But the restaurant denied liability and while not disputing that a truffle was dropped onto the floor, the restaurant's managers insisted Mrs Malik did not step on it before the accident. In a judgment at Central London County Court this week, Judge Nigel Gerald ruled against Mrs Malik, crucially finding that her right shoe had 'no contact' with the truffle - and so dashing her hopes of securing compensation for her injuries. The 62-year-old told the court she was left 'in shock' after her fall, which left her with painful injuries to her ankle and wrist. The offending truffle was among a selection offered up by her table's waiter which she and her companions decided to have boxed up as they were already full from their dinner. But the wandering truffle fell from its dish while being transferred to the box, explained Mrs Malik, rolling off the edge of the table, where - she claimed - she subsequently trod on it, or its residue. Mrs Malik told the court in the witness box: 'I stood up and, as I stood up straight and tried to fix my dress, my feet started to slip and just gave way under me." She explained that when she got up from the table she assumed their waiter had already picked the truffle up from the floor and that it was no longer a 'risk'. 'If the waiter knew it was there, he should have brought it to my attention,' she told the judge. 'When I stood up, I assumed that whatever had been dropped had been picked up. I had no knowledge that something which had fallen was still on the floor when I stood up." The judge said that immediately after the accident all assumed that the truffle was the culprit as it was found on the floor, while some of the chocolate remains were also on the sole of Mrs Malik's shoe. But an exhaustive trawl through the restaurant's CCTV showed a more complex picture, with the restaurant maintaining there was no point where Mrs Malik was in fact seen to stand on the caramel choc. Her barrister, Simon Plaut, put her case on grounds that she either stepped on the truffle's 'viscous residue' after standing up from the table - or that she herself squashed the chocolate by standing on it while standing up. But defence lawyers claimed Mrs Malik ended up on the floor after her right ankle 'inverted' and she tripped over, insisting that what the restaurant's barrister, Juliet Stevenson, labelled the 'runaway truffle' was nothing to do with the accident. She sketched out multiple alternative possible reasons for Mrs Malik's loss of balance, including she having knocked back up to three glasses of wine, a 'somewhat slippery floor,' fatigue at the end of the day, and wearing high heels 'no matter how experienced the wearer'. But she also noted: 'The fact is that people do on occasion lose their balance without clear cause.' Judge Gerald in his ruling said the video footage did not show any contact between Mrs Malik's foot and the truffle, adding: 'Her toe appears to come close to the truffle, but it's quite clear that it doesn't in fact come so close or within contact, because not only does the truffle not move but it's shape does not change.' As for the traces of sticky caramel on her shoe, this probably ended up on the sole 'after the accident and before her shoes were removed,' the judge added. 'I find that the claimant didn't tread on the truffle before she fell and therefore she has been unable to establish the essential facts which she relied on and I dismiss her claim,' he concluded.
