Corman said it conducted its own analysis after a French consumer magazine reported the presence of glyphosate, the active ingredient of Roundup weedkiller made by agri-giant Monsanto, in the cotton-based product of the Organyc brand.

In a report published on Tuesday, the magazine, 60 Millions de Consommateurs, said its testers had detected glyphosate in five of the 11 feminine hygiene products they analysed, including tampons as well as panty liners.

Corman said it ordered outside analyses that “confirmed residual traces of glyphosate” in its panty liners, adding that it was recalling 3,100 boxes from the lot in question as a “precaution”.

Although the amounts were tiny – around 25 nanogrammes per gramme – “these traces should not be present in organic cotton,” Corman said, adding that it would investigate its suppliers, mainly in the United States and India.

“We don't think it is dangerous, it's simply a precautionary measure, because our priority is the safety and health of our consumers,” a Corman spokeswoman told AFP.

60 Millions de Consommateurs also said residual amounts of potentially toxic substances were found in Always sanitary pads and Tampax tampons made by US company Procter and Gamble.

The company responded that its products had been “proven to be harmless” but that it would improve communication over their contents.

A spokesman for Johnson and Johnson, whose o.b. and Nett tampons were also faulted in the report, said the company uses “only materials respecting all the safety criteria” in its products.