Polly, you're right that Huffington Post could have been clearer about this being a joke.

One of the unfortunate things about the internet is how easy it is for parody to get misinterpreted. Even articles from The Onion occasionally get forwarded by people who think they're serious. One person forwards it, forgetting to mention that it's a joke, then suddenly it's spreading around the internet by people who haven't checked where it came from.

This article from Huffington Post will probably have an article on snopes.com before too long.