Is it safe to eat an edible after 5 years? An expert guide

October 28, 2025 •

3 min read

According to a 1999 United Nations study, THC potency in cannabis products can degrade significantly over time, with approximately 16% lost in the first year alone. After five years, an edible poses serious questions regarding both its safety and effectiveness, making it crucial to understand the risks before consumption.

Quick Summary

Consuming an edible that is five years old is highly unadvisable due to significant potency loss and high risk of foodborne illness. Over time, THC degrades into CBN, producing weaker, more sedative effects, while the food components can spoil, grow mold, or become contaminated, posing serious health risks.

Key Points

High Risk of Food Poisoning: After five years, an edible's food ingredients are likely spoiled and contaminated with bacteria and mold, posing a serious health risk.
Dramatic Potency Loss: The THC in edibles degrades significantly over time due to exposure to light, heat, and oxygen, meaning a five-year-old edible will be much less potent, if at all.
THC Converts to CBN: As THC degrades, it turns into CBN, a cannabinoid with more sedative than psychoactive effects. Instead of a high, you may only feel sleepy.
Homemade Edibles Spoil Faster: Edibles made at home without preservatives, especially baked goods with dairy or eggs, have a far shorter shelf life than commercially produced items and should never be consumed after five years.
Flavor and Texture Degrade: Even if technically edible, a five-year-old product will likely have an unpleasant, stale, or off taste and a poor texture, making the experience unenjoyable.
Visual Inspection Isn't Enough: Just because an old edible doesn't show visible mold doesn't mean it's safe. Microscopic contaminants can still be present and cause illness.
Discard if Expired: The safest and most responsible course of action is to discard any edible that is several years past its intended shelf life.

Most edibles are foods infused with cannabis, which means they are subject to the same degradation processes as any other food product. After a full five years, the likelihood of an edible remaining safe, potent, or even palatable is extremely low. The two primary issues with consuming a five-year-old edible are the degradation of the cannabinoids and the spoilage of the food product itself.

The Breakdown of Cannabinoids: THC to CBN

The most prominent chemical change in an old edible is the degradation of its cannabinoid content. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, is highly sensitive to environmental factors and will break down over time. Heat, light, and oxygen are the main culprits that accelerate this process. A United Nations study found that after four years, a significant percentage of THC could be lost. After five years, any remaining THC will be dramatically reduced.

The Conversion to Cannabinol (CBN)

As THC degrades, it is converted into cannabinol (CBN). CBN is a different cannabinoid with a different effect profile, known for being more sedative than psychoactive. This means that instead of the euphoric high an individual might expect, consuming a five-year-old edible is more likely to result in sleepiness or a mild, un-intoxicating feeling. This inconsistency makes proper dosing impossible and the experience unpredictable at best.

The Risks of Food Spoilage and Contamination

The most significant and dangerous risk of eating a five-year-old edible is food poisoning. Edibles are food products and contain perishable ingredients, with homemade edibles being especially vulnerable.

Perishable Ingredients

Baked Goods: Edibles like brownies or cookies, made with dairy and eggs, have a very short shelf life, sometimes only a few days at room temperature. Freezing can extend this, but not for five years. After this length of time, the risk of consuming mold and harmful bacteria is extremely high.
Gummies and Candies: While sugar-based edibles like gummies or hard candies have a much longer shelf life due to preservatives, they are not immune to spoilage. Over time, exposure to moisture or air can still lead to mold growth, crystallization, or an unpleasant, stale texture.

Improper Storage and Contamination

Five years is a long time, and unless an edible was stored in a vacuum-sealed, frozen, and light-proof environment for its entire life, it has likely been exposed to factors that promote spoilage. Even microscopic mold or bacterial growth that is not visible to the naked eye can cause gastrointestinal distress, allergic reactions, or serious foodborne illness.

How to Tell if an Edible Has Gone Bad

Even with a five-year-old edible, you might want to perform a sensory check, though it's advised to just discard it immediately. Here's what to look for, though a visual inspection is not foolproof.

Visual Indicators:

Mold: Any sign of fuzzy, white, green, or black spots is a clear sign of spoilage.
Discoloration: Faded colors or unusual changes in appearance indicate degradation.
Texture Changes: Gummies might become excessively hard, grainy, or slimy. Baked goods will be stale, dry, or crumbly.

Olfactory Indicators:

Unpleasant Odor: A sour, musty, or off-putting smell is a strong indicator that the food has spoiled.

Gustatory Indicators:

Off Taste: If the edible tastes stale, bitter, or otherwise unpleasant, it should be discarded immediately.

Comparison of Old vs. Fresh Edibles


Feature	Fresh Edible	5-Year-Old Edible
Potency	Full, as labeled	Extremely low or non-existent
Cannabinoid Profile	High THC	Very low THC, high CBN
Taste	Fresh, as intended	Stale, off-putting, or tasteless
Texture	Optimal, as intended	Dry, hard, slimy, or stale
Food Safety	Safe for consumption	High risk of mold and bacteria
Psychoactive Effect	Euphoric, strong	Sedative, weak, or none

Conclusion: The Final Verdict

In conclusion, eating an edible after five years is not a recommended or safe practice. The active cannabinoids will have degraded significantly, turning into a less potent, more sedative compound. Even more importantly, the edible itself is a food product with a very high chance of being spoiled or contaminated with mold and bacteria, regardless of its original form. The potential risk of foodborne illness far outweighs any minimal, unpredictable, or undesirable psychoactive effects that might be experienced. When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and dispose of any edibles that are several years old. Your health and safety are far more important than consuming an expired cannabis product.

For more information on the stability and degradation of cannabis products, consider consulting scientific studies such as those published through the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime).

Frequently Asked Questions

You are highly unlikely to get the intended high from a five-year-old edible. Over five years, most of the psychoactive THC will have degraded into CBN, a cannabinoid known for its sedative, rather than euphoric, effects.

The biggest and most dangerous risk is food poisoning. An edible is a food product, and after five years, its ingredients can spoil, grow mold, and harbor harmful bacteria, even if stored in the freezer.

The THC in an edible degrades over time, especially when exposed to light, heat, and oxygen. This degradation converts THC into CBN, which is significantly less psychoactive and more sedating.

Yes, different types of edibles have varying shelf lives. Hard candies and gummies tend to last longer due to their sugar content, while baked goods containing dairy and eggs spoil much faster. After five years, however, all are at high risk.

While proper storage (cool, dark, airtight container) can extend the life of an edible, it cannot prevent the gradual degradation of cannabinoids and the eventual spoilage of food ingredients for as long as five years.

For an edible this old, there is no reliable way to confirm its safety. Visual inspections for mold or off smells are not foolproof, as bacteria can be invisible. The only safe option is to discard it.

Neither is safe to eat after five years. While a sugar-based gummy might have a lower risk of obvious spoilage than a baked good with dairy, the THC will be degraded in both, and the risk of contamination in both is too high to justify consumption.