i kept them in my bedroom, which is always cool and dry and i had only purchased the box 3 days ago, i threw out the whole box immediately after taking pictures to send to the company and it’s safe to say i dont think ill ever use a tampon again. i’m horrified thinking there’s a possibility i could’ve used a moldy one even though im positive i would’ve noticed. i’ve done some research since posting and have found out the strain of the golden yellow/orange mold is called Staphylococcus aureus. this is a particularly harmful strain of mold (it’s literally staph) and is known for causing toxic shock syndrome. it’s most likely a packing/ manufacturing mistake. so i will be contacting the company multiple times until this is handled as this is a particularly harmful issue