Abstract: Meat and meat products are nutrient-dense and essential components of a balanced diet. However, microorganisms play a significant role in meat spoilage, leading to diminished quality and a shorter shelf life. Food-derived carbon dots (CDs) exhibit notable characteristics, including excellent biocompatibility and environmentally friendly. Their surfaces are enriched with diverse functional groups and various elements, which endow food-derived CDs with superior antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Food-derived CDs inhibit the proliferation of microorganisms in meat and extend its shelf life by disrupting the structural integrity of these microorganisms. However, a comprehensive review on the fusion of CDs and natural biopolymer films for meat preservation has not yet been conducted. Therefore, this paper introduces food-derived CDs and their physicochemical properties, elaborates on the antibacterial and antioxidant mechanism of CDs, and further discusses how CDs enhance the functionality of natural biopolymer films, as well as their applications in meat preservation and freshness monitoring. We anticipate that this review will provide a theoretical reference for the preparation of food-derived CDs and their application in meat packaging.