Not the muffin in question. (Credit: Flickr, "Pan y Varios")

The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein detailed  the “myth” that the Department of Justice paid $16 a piece for muffins at Hilton Hotels.  As Stein explained, the muffin story originated from a Justice Department report on “wasteful or extravagant spending” that noted the Hilton Hotels muffins cost $16 each. However, Hilton Hotels explained “three days after the study was released” that while the hotel stated on invoices that $16 was for muffins, it really included “a full continental breakfast plus tax.”

As Stein explained, the muffin tale had spread  and “from Sept. 20 through Sept. 28, there were 223 stories that mentioned either “$16 muffins,” “$16 per muffin,” “sixteen dollar muffin” or “16 dollar muffin,” according to a LexisNexis search.” However, just 37 of the 223 stories ” offered an explanation for the cost of the muffins or attempted to correct the record.”

Check out Stein’s breakdown of the muffin story here.