Food to Avoid on the New Year: Foods Believed to Cause Bad Luck (2024)

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Food to Avoid on the New Year: Foods Believed to Cause Bad Luck? ›

Black-Eyed Peas

Traditionally paired with collard greens and cornbread, black-eyed peas are a staple New Year's good luck food. The peas symbolize coins, and practices of consuming these legumes around celebrations date back to Ancient Egypt.

Black-Eyed Peas

Traditionally paired with collard greens and cornbread, black-eyed peas are a staple New Year's good luck food. The peas symbolize coins, and practices of consuming these legumes around celebrations date back to Ancient Egypt.

Don't Eat Chicken

Did you know that chicken is a superstitious food to eat on New Year's Eve? Because chickens have wings, some people believe that eating them will cause all of your luck to fly away in the new year!

It's said that you shouldn't eat winged fowl (read: birds like turkey or chicken), bottom feeders (like shrimp or catfish), or any seafood that swims backward or side to side (like lobster or crab).

This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away and dramatically reduces chances of prosperity in the year ahead. Actually, LNY fundamentalists will tell you taking a shower is also off-limits on the first day for the same reason.

Another superstition, this is American folklore: don't wash clothes on New Year's Day. If you clean clothes on Jan. 1, you may wash away a member of your family in the coming year — meaning someone will die. Not to mention sending a year of good fortune down the drain.

White-Colored Foods are a no no on New Year's Day, foods that are all white in color, such as rice, bread, eggs, and tofu. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, white symbolizes death– so it is considered unlucky to eat white colored-food on New Year's Day.

In the southern United States, it's believed that eating collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings you luck and prosperity. The greens represent money, and the peas bring the luck.

What food brings health wealth on New Year's? ›

In China, Japan, and many other Asian countries, it's customary to serve and eat noodles on New Year's Day. Their length symbolizes longevity—so make sure not to break or shorten the noodles during the cooking process.

From black-eyed peas to lentils to soba noodles, these foods and others are believed to bring good luck in the new year. Champagne, noise makers and confetti are all New Year's Eve staples. But, in some parts of the country and the world, so are black-eyed peas, lentils, grapes and pickled herring.

Don't Clean the House on New Year's Day - You will wash away any good luck coming your way.

People believe that if you do clean on January 1, you end up sweeping away all of the good luck that's stored away in your home for that coming year, so you wait until January 2 to complete your household chores like laundry, dishes and tidying up instead.

Don't Eat Lobster, Crab or Chicken - Lobsters walk backwards; crabs walk sideways; and because chickens have wings, your good luck could “fly away.” Thought: Stick with the pig because he always moves forward – plus, I have a delicious pork chop recipe!

According to folklore, if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'll be “washing for the dead” or washing a loved one away -- meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year. Get your laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by New Year's Eve.

For centuries, the Chinese have believed cleaning on the first couple of days of a new year, especially sweeping on New Year's Day, brings bad luck. Since this seems to be one of the oldest New Year's superstitions, go ahead and skip the sweeping.