By Tara Kimura, CBCNews.ca

What have you been packing in your lunch pail? Or more specifically, what have you been stuffing in your sandwiches? A recent survey conducted by the University of Guelph suggests that after the listeria outbreak tied to deli meats, fewer Canadians are opting to eat the ready-to-eat products.

The survey, which included 2,000 people in the Guelph region, found the proportion of people who said they never served ready-to-eat meat at home climbed from six per cent to 39 per cent.

The November poll also found:

• Thirty per cent of participants said they've stopped buying ready-to-eat meat products.
  
• The proportion of consumers who said they avoided deli meat in restaurants jumped from nine per cent to 56 per cent.
  
• Fifty-two per cent of people polled say they are paying closer attention to food labels.
  
• Thirty-two per cent said they're cooking more at home.
  

But the researchers also noted the listeria outbreak had not shaken consumer confidence in the food safety system. They found 75 per cent of participants believed deli meats are safe to eat and 70 per cent said their perception of food safety hasn't changed.

Researcher John Cranfield, who teaches food economics at the University of Guelph, told CBC News that the results may fluctuate with time.

"It's important to emphasize what the long-run effects are going to be," he said.

"We don't know whether those 30 per cent are going to never eat ready-to-eat meats ever again or whether it's just a transitory phenomenon that's going to erode away over time as other issues start to come into their mind and they start to realize no one else is getting sick from this so maybe this stuff is safe to eat again."

How did the listeria outbreak affect your eating habits? Now that nearly three months have passed after the outbreak, are you still cautious about what you eat or do you believe the threat is over?