The paper had the following objectives: – to identify, on the basis of the consumers’ own declarations, how they handle fresh fruit prior to eating it; – to determine variations in their behaviours depending on their socio-demographic features and time; – and to specify factors impacting the quality and safety of fresh fruit while transferring is from the place of purchase to the place of consumption. The analysis was carried out based of the results of questionnaire survey conducted among the consumers in the city of Lublin during the years 2003 and 2007. It was found that the consumers used to wash fresh fruit with water only for a short time before they ate them; they rarely washed and rinsed fresh fruit more than once, or infrequently peeled it. The socio demographic features of the consumers polled significantly impacted the scale of variations in their declarations referring to the frequency of using the above treatments. In the years 2003 and 2007, the consumer behaviours linked with the use of hygiene treatments before eating fresh fruit did not significantly change.