So, semicolons should be used to separate items in complex lists. But what if only one item contains a comma and that item is placed at the end of the list? For example:
The body incorporated cheese and chocolate into its recommended daily diet, emphasized the importance of sugar, and encouraged people to eat apples, bananas, and celery.
Surely no ambiguity exists here. It seems unnecessary to me to use semicolons in such instances, but a colleague disagrees. Thoughts?