CCTV images of Francesca Galelli and Molly Curtis, both 13, were circulated by Cambridgeshire Police.
But the force issued a correction after it emerged the girls were not responsible for the theft from a branch of Superdrug in Ely.
Sgt Phil Priestley said police had made an "innocent mistake".
He said: "We always want to be clear and transparent if we get things wrong, and we definitely want to ensure that people know that Francesca and Molly are good people from lovely families, and this wasn't their fault".
Cambridgeshire Police have revised district CCTV policies to prevent such mistakes from happening in future.
Two "completely innocent" teenage girls who were wrongly identified on police social media as prime suspects in a shop theft have received an apology.