Well, what is it?

I imagine lists with post-specifiers are near impossible to parse too:

    Coffee, instant
    Custard, powdered
    Sugar

Bit contrived, but still.

I see your point for longer lists, but most humans would correctly interpret "Hey, add coffee cream to my shopping list" as one item rather than two.

Assuming most cultures have "coffee cream" in their common vernacular seems risky. I've never heard of it.

This. I'd assume it's like "creamer" which is a fake milk substitute from USA I think? But, it could be coffee flavoured cream; or "coffee creams" which are biscuits in the UK, or maybe some sort of confection?

Yeah, I should just look it up ...

"coffee cream" AKA "half and half" in much of the US or "half cream" in the UK

I (native UK) have never heard of "half cream", is that like "single cream"?

Half cream is less than single cream. AFAIK single cream has half the milkfat of whipping cream, while half-and-half/half cream has about 1/3.

That seems easy. Keep a pointer to the last item, and if you encounter a 'modifier', modify it.

yeah, but which way? `Add custard powdered sugar to my shopping list` is is powdered custard, or powdered sugar?