Have you seen a citation of the first paper from a reputable source? Are you sure that it is cited correctly or even exists? Your link appears to claim that it was cited by Victor Herbert in his article on B12 in the 1996 17th edition of “Present Knowledge in Nutrition. Have you tried looking in various editions of that book to see if he does cite it? (Obviously, the 1996 edition does not cites a 2004 paper, but I trust the 1996 more than the 2004. 1996 is the 7th edition, not the 17th.) Added: this seems like a reputable source, as it is a patent by same the company.
Have you seen a citation of the first paper from a reputable source? Are you sure that it is cited correctly or even exists? Your link appears to claim that it was cited by Victor Herbert in his article on B12 in the 1996 17th edition of “Present Knowledge in Nutrition. Have you tried looking in various editions of that book to see if he does cite it? (Obviously, the 1996 edition does not cites a 2004 paper, but I trust the 1996 more than the 2004. 1996 is the 7th edition, not the 17th.) Added: this seems like a reputable source, as it is a patent by same the company.