Even for people who aren't normally superstitious, lots of New Year's traditions revolve around ritualistic ways to ensure you have a good year, including that midnight kiss.

Lots of those traditions involve what you eat. Or, really, what you shouldn't eat.

Surf and turf might seem like the perfect meal for a fancy New Year's shindig, but some cultures say lobster is a dish to skip.

Smithsonian Magazine notes that the crustaceans are considered bad luck because they move backwards.

According to Classroom, the superstition can be traced back to Austria and Eastern Europe, where it's believed that eating any New Year's meal that moves backwards will cause setbacks in the year to come.

One Kind Planet notes that lobsters swim forwards, obviously, but they can quickly go backwards when they sense a predator.

Other shellfish like shrimp and crabs are also considered bad luck because they move from side to side.

The only seafood considered to bring good luck is fish that only swim forwards, like salmon, which is considered especially lucky because it swims in schools, which promotes prosperity and progress in the year ahead.

"Salmon for everyone! On me!" Like we said, any fish that swims forwards is considered a lucky New Year's entrée.

That's particularly true if the fish has shiny scales, according to Southern Kitchen.

Pickled herring is considered a lucky tradition in Germany and Sweden, and in China, they prefer the whole fish, eyeballs and all.

But make an exception for the bottom feeders, which include fish like cod, halibut, bass, and worst of all: catfish.

The superstition goes that if you feast on catfish, you'll be feeding off of scraps for the year to come.

That's because bottom feeders, as their name implies, scavenge for food along the murky bottoms of lakes and oceans.

Not what you want to be doing in your new year.

If you don't want your luck to fly away on New Year's Eve, then you're encouraged to steer clear of chicken – or any type of bird, for that matter.

The Victoria Advocate explains that winged fowl such as chickens or turkeys scratch around in the dirt looking for their food.

So the superstition goes that if you consume these at the start of the year, you'll likely be scratching in the dirt looking for food and fortune over the next 12 months.

Chickens and turkeys also move backwards while they scratch for food, so that's a double red flag.

Though it's hard to source where it came from, you may also hear that eating anything with wings on New Year's Eve is also considered a no-no because it could symbolize your luck flying away.

"Good luck." "Saying good luck is bad luck." "I take it back." "Taking it back's even worse luck."

Colorful foods are good luck on New Year's.

The green and gold of collard greens and tamales, respectively, symbolize wealth and prosperity.

Oranges and tangerines are lucky golden charms, too.

Gifting, displaying, or eating them in China means your year ahead will be chock full of luck and money.

By contrast, foods without a lot of color aren't so lucky.

How Stuff Works explains that Chinese tradition warns to avoid white foods like tofu, white potatoes, egg whites, rice, and bread, unless the bread is served as a round cake.

In China, white represents death, mourning, and bad fortune. It's the color people wear to funerals.

If you want to have a lucky and lively new year, it's best to avoid white foods. Except sauerkraut, that is.

It's popular among the Pennsylvania Dutch and considered lucky on New Year's Eve, especially when paired with pork.

Since the 1700s, long soba noodles have been a traditional New Year's Eve delicacy. In Japan, they're believed to promote longevity, health, resilience, and luck.

Spot explains that eaters should beware of any noodle that is cut short or broken in half, though. Short noodles are a symbol of bad luck and a shortened lifespan.

This applies to noodles even after they go in your mouth. Don't bite them!

And don't cut them with knives or chopsticks when they're in the bowl in front of you.

Slurping down long noodles in their entirety is essential for longevity and luck.

If you were thinking of gifting your New Year's party host an assortment of herbs, leave out the parsley, the Darlington & Stockton Times warns.

There's a superstition about it that dates all the way back to 1600. The book "25 Essential Herbs You Need To Know" offers the backstory.

The legend goes that a Greek army on its way to battle encountered some donkeys covered in parsley.

They interpreted the animals as a sign of impending doom and retreated. "Run away!" "Run away!" "Run away!" From then on, parsley became associated with death in Greece.

Garden Betty Explains that it was used to decorate wreaths at funerals and placed on top of graves to honor the dead.

At any time of year, slicing into a fresh loaf of bread and finding a huge, gaping hole is considered to be a very bad omen.

According to ABC News, air pockets in bread are thought to be a symbol of a coffin and a premonition of impending death — either yours or someone's you know.

According to The Bread Guide, these holes are actually referred to as tunneling and can be caused by a multitude of reasons, such as not kneading the dough enough, being impatient with rising time, or using flour that's too dense.

Trapped carbon dioxide from the yeast causes these bready pits of despair.

If your bread isn't scored deeply enough, the gas can't escape and you'll be left with holey bread.

If you're even a wee bit superstitious, perhaps stay away from fresh loaves of bread around New Year's Eve.

Or you can slice the bread horizontally like one big sandwich. If there are any big holes in the loaf, that'll fix the problem.

According to the language blog Learn German, it's customary in Germany to leave a portion of food on your plate on New Year's Eve.

The plate of leftovers is meant to sit out past midnight to bring food abundance in the new year.

Quad Cities Daily notes that finishing all of your food on New Year's Eve is believed to actually bring about a spell of bad luck.

So maybe just leave a nibble or two on your plate at the end of your festivities.

So why are there so many food-related New Year's superstitions?

Anthropology professor Nan Rothschild told the New York Times, "To say that a food brings good luck is a way of controlling the environment and one's destiny."