Food packaging facilitates its handling, preservation, and distribution. Most food is consumed far away from its production sites and at times which are not necessarily correlated with the seasonal harvesting of crops. Recycling is one of the main strategies to reduce plastics environmental impact, but it requires an important investment in the waste treatment infrastructure. Moreover, the use of recycled materials to produce new food packaging presents challenges concerning food safety, because open recycling streams can be a source of contamination of the packed products. Under this perspective, the use of biodegradable materials for food packaging represents a promising alternative to reduce the societal waste disposal problem, while requiring less investment. Furthermore, innovation using new polymer resins is also an opportunity to include by-products of food industry and agriculture in the production of packaging materials, offering the possibility to increase the part of renewable materials in the sector and to decrease the waste generation. Active biodegradable packaging materials are with this respect of particular interest for food manufacturers eager to improve the sustainability and environmental impact of their products, because they contribute maintaining food quality and safety. Here, we used bixin, a carotenoid with colouring and antioxidant properties and plasticized polylactide (PLA) as polymer matrix. Typical melt processes of PLA are carried out between 160 and 220 °C involving heat and shear, which can cause thermal degradation of the antioxidant. The aim of the study was to measure the thermal degradation of bixin, analyse degradation products, and evaluate its impact on the performance of the active packaging in the protection of oxidation sensitive foods.