Spend anytime in or around upscale restaurants and you will encounter truffles. Many consider truffles to be the most expensive ingredient on earth, with some European varieties selling at $3600/pound. That fact has left the truffle industry with a history of deception, theft, and even violence. But now more than ever, truffles are under greater threat of duplicity. With Chinese examples quickly being mixed in with French and Italian varieties, the market isn't the only place where truffles are competing with low value, tasteless foreign varieties. The countryside where the world's most valued truffles grow is now under threat from invasive foreign varieties. In fact, Italy has outlawed the sale of Chinese truffles, and many expect France to quickly follow suit.