Yes but they still say that:

food additive ascorbic acid and alpha-tocoperol

Vs

their naturally occurring forms

And that

their effects can differ

So it’s not like the part the writer talked about wasn’t almost literally mentioned in the paper.

They are also just quoting the senior author, since the part of the article the guy you replied to omitted was:

“said Touvier, who is also director of research at France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris.”

Scientific papers will always be dumbed down a bit and information will be omitted when writing an article for the general public.

The guy you replied to simply doesn’t know what he is talking about and thinks he knows better than the senior author.