THREE make-up products have been removed from Claire's shops after an organisation claims they tested positive for asbestos, however the fashion brand insists its products are safe.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed it has asked Claire's to recall three products and stated the presence of asbestos in them in a release on its website last week.

"The FDA issued a Safety Alert today warning consumers to not use three of Claire’s products: Claire’s Eye Shadows – Batch No/Lot No: 08/17; Claire’s Compact Powder – Batch No/Lot No: 07/15; and, Claire’s Contour Palette – Batch No/Lot No: 04/17 because they tested positive for asbestos.

The FDA requested that Claire’s recall the products because they should not be used by consumers. Claire’s has refused to comply with the FDA’s request, and the agency does not have authority to mandate a recall. The FDA is therefore warning consumers not to use these products and will continue to communicate our safety concerns about them."

A statement from Claire's, which has a shop in Crowngate Shopping Centre, was posted online last week. "At Claire’s, customer safety is paramount, and we pride ourselves on providing our customers with the highest quality and safest products. We wish to address today's FDA warning that three cosmetic items sold by Claire’s may have been contaminated with asbestos. We assure customers that our products are safe.

Out of an abundance of caution, we have removed the three products identified by the FDA from our stores, and are also removing any remaining talc based cosmetic products. We will honor returns of any Claire’s talc based cosmetics.

There is no evidence that any products sold by Claire’s are unsafe. In early 2018, the three items identified by the FDA were extensively tested by multiple independent accredited laboratories, and all products were found to be compliant with all relevant cosmetic safety regulations. The recent test results the FDA have shared with us show significant errors. Specifically, the FDA test reports have mis-characterized fibres in the products as asbestos, in direct contradiction to established EPA and USP criterion for classifying asbestos fibres. Despite our efforts to discuss these issues with the FDA, they insisted on moving forward with their release. We are disappointed that the FDA has taken this step, and we will continue to work with them to demonstrate the safety of our products."