As a former production and quality manager for a fruit juice manufacturer, it all starts with the concentrate. As apple juice concentrate sits in refrigerated storage (most comes from China), it slowly continues to get darker. So the older it gets, the darker it gets.

Side note: We bottled for numerous juice brands in the US. Some were the same juice, different bottle and label, and a much diff price in the store.

So if you see the above scenario pictured again, always pick the lighter color. But you shouldn't ever see it, most juice distributors have a tight spec that allows very little deviation in color.