This new site wants to make sure the tea you’re drinking is the real thing

There’s a name for it: tea fraud. A number of high profile scandals in recent years, such as China-made teas with cancer-causing colouring and cheap teas masquerading as expensive brews, have made people cautious about their once-relaxing cuppa.

To protect consumers from health issues caused by drinking these teas, governments are relying on QR codes on packages or sending samples to labs for testing – but it’s a costly and slow process.

Using machine learning, a Singapore-based site hopes to give tea-drinkers worldwide a way to buy teas that are authentic and safe.