Do you remember Lady Gaga’s meat dress from 2010? The famous singer appeared at an awards ceremony draped in flank steak to protest anti-gay policies in the United States. Intriguingly, the idea might have inspired, years later, smugglers trying to move meat from Georgia to Turkey.

On Nov. 15, several smugglers were caught crossing the border with 20 kilos (44 pounds) of raw meat wrapped around their chests, bellies and legs. In Georgia, if meat sells for $1.25 per kilo ($2.75 per pound), for example, the same amount costs $10 per kilo ($22 per pound) in Turkish markets. X-ray machines can't detect meat, so no one knows how much meat has been smuggled into Turkey in the past.

After this event made headlines in Turkey, Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci stated the obvious to the press, saying, “When the price of meat [in Turkey] goes down, smuggling will decrease.” Yet despite years of heated rhetoric about how to provide affordable meat, prices have persistently increased. From January 2003 until July 2017, meat prices rose 225%. Turks' meat consumption decreased significantly. In desperation, the Turkish government started importing meat from cheaper — but also dubious — sources. For example, in December 2016, the Official Gazette announced Turkey was importing 500 tons of pork from Moldova. Although opposition newspapers, including Islamist publications, asked who would be consuming this much pork, the government offered no explanation. So now, Turks are asking: Are the products we are consuming actually halal (permissible under traditional Islamic law)?

Meat is the crux of all halal foods in Islam. Pork and all of its products (from skin to bone) are forbidden. Anything that comes into contact with a human body such as cosmetics, medicine or clothing should ideally comply with halal guidelines. In a world where processing most products involves ingredients from multiple sources, it becomes all the more difficult to know the purity of any goods. For example, gelatin, which is made from animal bones, skin and connective tissues, is used in a range of foods: yogurt, candy, cereals, cream cheese and sour cream, just to name a few.