I don't know. I put food outside to cool or warm quite a bit and haven't had a problem with any animals eating it, but maybe it's a regional thing.
There are LOTS of bugs where we live.
But the biggest food story I know is the story of the Easter bunny.
Every year, the Easter Bunny would get up early - about 4 am, to leave food in a basket and plastic eggs on the lawn. I am single, and the Easter Bunny needed to be up to make the magic before the (then) little girl woke up. It was a real drag, because she'd have to haul out the 80 pound black lab (if he was left inside at 4am, he'd bark until he woke up said little girl). He'd pull in one direction (he assumed it was walk time) as she tried to haul him back around the yard.
It sucked.
So, one year, the Easter bunny really REALLY wanted to sleep in. She also didn't want to deal with the dog. So, she filled all the plastic eggs and put them outside at midnight. It was perfect. She'd sleep in.
Here's what the Easter bunny learned. If you put the eggs out at midnight, the dog will bark all night long and keep you awake. She did not realize it, but his relentless barking was really an early warning system. And had I listened more closely, I would have heard:
Get up you idiot! The raccoons are in the yard, opening up each and every plastic egg and eating what's inside. And that big chocolate bunny you put in the easter basket? That's history too. Get up!!
(As it was, the Easter Bunny looked out at the lawn at 4am, saw the mess, and sadly started to fill any remaining eggs she could find to save the day). Lesson learned