Refination processes for "whole" wheat and sugar in Italy

I heard several times that so called "whole" products (flour and cane sugar) are actually often (not always) built from refined ones "adding back" refined versions of what was taken out in the first place (e.g.: adding bran to white flour).

Purported reason for the above, apparently useless, procedure is some kind of legislative restriction for food health prevents using "really unrefined" products.

Is this a Urban Legend (i.e.: a hoax)?

Is there "something" true about this?

I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a "half truth", meaning both practices are used, to some extent; in this case I would like to know what is the (approximate) proportion and, more importantly, if there's some tell-tale indication on label that can help discriminating (I'm in Europe, Italy).