Does food at room temperature spoil faster if refridgerated beforehand? I've been told (with anecdotal evidence, by family) that if I put food in the fridge then leave it out at room temperature, even if unopened, the food would spoil faster than if it was never put in the fridge in the first place. I would usually put my milk in the fridge right after getting home, but according to the claim, I should just leave it out at room temperature until use in case the fridge goes down or something.
Is there any truth to this? Should I not put my boxed ingredients in the fridge until use?
The short answer is no, that is a myth. Food spoils because of chemical breakdown and microorganism activity, both of these are slowed considerably by refrigeration. When you take food out of the refrigerator and it warms up these chemical and microbial processes speed up again, but they don't work faster because the food was previously refrigerated.
Some foods shouldn't be refrigerated, like bananas and avocados, but that's a different question.