One thing that drives me nuts here is people who think chemicals derived from a “natural” source are somehow preferable from chemicals derived from petrol or sy

One thing that drives me nuts here is people who think chemicals derived from a “natural” source are somehow preferable from chemicals derived from petrol or synthesized de novo. The concept of a chemical is that you cannot possibly distinguish them. Why fake truffle oil tastes different than the prized truffles has nothing to do with the fact it may have been synthesized from oil (which is totally okay), and everything to do with the fact that the real deal’s taste comes from a bouquet of many different chemicals, only part of which is represented in the cheaper synthetic stuff.