The Dangerous and Unsavory World of Black Market Truffles
Posted on January 9, 2012
60 Minutes turns its investigative might to the seedy world of truffles. That's right, we said seedy. Truffle production has plummeted in recent years. Some attribute the lack of truffles to climate change.
Supply of the sought-after, edible fungus -- which is the most expensive food in the world -- has risen as the supply has dropped.
There is big money to be made by the unscrupulous in the world of truffles. Now there is a black market for truffles, with all the criminal goings on one would expect in the world of drug trafficking: fraud, theft, kidnapping of truffle dogs, assault and battery.
The best truffles come from France and Italy. But now the market is being flooded with inferior, tasteless, perfumeless Chinese truffles. The spores from the Chinese truffles are now contaminating the soil in France and Italy: Italy is so upset by that fact that it has now banned the importation of Chinese truffles. It's a sleazy story that will fill truffle lovers and dog lovers with fury. Take a look: