It's Olympic time again, which means....doping! Well, following that recent Tour de Farce, errrr France, is going to be challenging, but the Olympic doping scandals are beginning to brew.

As you've surely read on INSIDER Online, U.S. Olympic swimming hopeful Jessica Hardy, 21, recently tested positive for clenbuterol, a banned substance. She, as is more and more commonplace, denies taking any banned substances, there are reports that her coach is recommending she have any dietary supplements she's been taking tested for "inadvertent consumption" of clenbuterol.

There are few ways of looking at these cases. One, some athletes are guilty and need to own up. Danish mountain bike champion Peter Riis Andersen was pulled from the Olympic Games after testing positive for EPO, the same dope that continues to plague the Tour de France. In Andersen's case, EPO (erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates red blood cells) can't be excused away by the "dietary supplement defense." Wethere this is the reason behind Andersen's admitting to EPO doping, his is a case of "You got me."

However, given that the feds are finding adulterated supplements, I feel compelled to give this dietary supplement defense a look. OK, most recent adulterated supplements have been for losing weight or gaining erections, but the point is that adulteration and contamination do exist in the current dietary supplement industry. Throw spiked herbal extracts and tainted fish oil on top, and you've got a convincing argument that there are holes in dietary supplement quality.

That said, there are ways to increase your chances of buying and consuming a high-quality, untainted product: buy reputable brands. This sounds easy enough for those of us immersed in the supplement industry, but I argue world-class athletes have a few good and easy options. The last Olympics featured some certified as safe supplements for athletes, and some companies are going the extra mile to test and certify products as safe from banned substances (see: NSF-NFL collaboration, for one).

Also, I wonder why Jessica Hardy, who surely has been training in the pool most of her life to reach to reach this swimming pinnacle, and her coach decide it fitting to test only after a doping failure. With so much on the line, why wouldn't they go to greater lengths to test BEFORE taking any supplements. Seems so simple.

Now there are reports that Hardy endorses AdvoCare, a dietary supplement company, so perhaps she took their products on faith alone. Pure speculation at this point, although her endorsements include statements that she takes many of the company's products.

Apparently, Advocare products have been linked to previous dopping failures, especially among NCAA athletes.

Advocare states: "Safety is the first consideration for every AdvoCare product." It even touted its quality earlier this year. Advocare reportedly released a statement after the Hardy news, assuring the quality and safety of its products, as well as refuting reports it is banned by any major sporting body.

The greater question in all of this is: How do these dietary supplement defenses in doping cases affect our industry. I know there are thousands of positive stories about supplements, but it seems these high-profile cases such as Hardy's, combined with actual federal adulteration cases, put our the natural products industry in a tough position. We point to the new supplement-specific GMPs as some minor savior, but what's the real solution?