Tesco Ireland has withdrawn Christmas cards from sale that were manufactured in a Chinese factory that is alleged to have used "forced labour".
In a statement to RTÉ News, it said Tesco UK has suspended the factory where the cards are produced and has opened an investigation.
It said: "We abhor the use of any form of forced labour and would never allow the use of prison labour in our supply chain."
Tesco said the supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken the company's rule banning the use of prison labour.
It also said that Tesco had a comprehensive auditing system in place and if a supplier breached its rules it would immediately and permanently de-list them.
Tesco Ireland said it sells two charity Christmas cards, in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital and the Irish Cancer Society, both of which are made and printed in Ireland.
The story emerged when a six-year-old schoolgirl from Tooting, south London, opened her box of cards to distribute them to friends and found the following message: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison China.
"Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation. Use the link to contact Mr Peter Humphrey," the message added, according to The Sunday Times.
The girl, Florence Widdicombe, said "it was a bit funny and I felt a bit shocked" when she discovered the message.
She was writing cards to school friends last weekend when she read the note that said its author was part of a group of foreign prisoners in Shanghai who were forced to work against their will.
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She said: "We didn't open them on the day that we got them, we opened them about a week ago.
"We were writing in them. About on my sixth or eighth card, somebody had already written in it."
Her father, Ben Widdicombe, said he felt "incredulity" and thought it was a "prank" when he read the message.
He googled the name Peter Humphrey and discovered he was a British journalist who had served two years in Qingpu Prison.
He explained: "On reflection we realised it was actually potentially quite a serious thing, so I felt very shocked, but also a responsibility to pass it on to Peter Humphrey as the author asked me to do."
A Tesco spokeswoman said the company was "shocked" and had shut down operations at the facility.
"We would never allow prison labour in our supply chain," she said.
"We were shocked by these allegations and immediately halted production at the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation.
"We have a comprehensive auditing system in place and this supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labour.
"If evidence is found we will permanently de-list the supplier."
Tesco donates £300,000 (€352,000) each year from the sale of the cards to the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and Diabetes UK.
The card with the message on it had been made at Zheijiang Yunguang Printing, where it is understood an independent audit was conducted in November, which found no concerns about forced labour.
The retailer has not received any complaints from customers about messages inside cards.
Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, said China had abolished labour camps in 2013, but the organisation still receives occasional complaints about poor labour conditions in factories in the country.
He said it was now up to China to investigate these allegations and ensure that companies both domestic and international are following China's own labour laws and international human rights standards.
Additional reporting PA
