SAN DIEGO—A La Mesa-based sanitation company and its owners pleaded guilty Dec. 1 to federal charges for selling a product with false claims that it could eradicate viruses, including the one that causes COVID-19.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Integral Hygienic Solutions, Inc.—doing business as TruClean—claimed its TruClean 365 product could eliminate the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as other viruses and bacteria for one year when applied on surfaces.
However, prosecutors say that when the pandemic began in early 2020, the defendants actually bought bottles of chemical products from a different company, then placed TruClean’s labels onto the bottles. The company claimed in its marketing that TruClean 365 had undergone “rigorous testing” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which validated that TruClean 365 provided year-round protection against virus infections….