The city has convicted the Empire Theatre at Grant Park of harboring and feeding rodents on Feb. 14, 2011. Health officials say mice were found in the cupboards of the snack counter, where food was kept.
"There was food stored in them. There was also popcorn, cardboard, popcorn holders," said Pat Masterton of the Winnipeg public health inspection program.
But the city and Empire Theatres say they have no reason to believe anyone got sick. Empire Theatres says pest control visits all their cinemas every month.
"We aren't aware of any contamination whatsoever of food or anything otherwise," said Dean Leland of Empire Theatres.
But the problem doesn't stop at theatres. This year alone, two restaurants have been shut down because of infestations. Cockroaches led to the closure of Dim Sum Garden in March.
In February, rodent feces were found in food at the Standard Tavern.
Lincoln Poulin of Poulin's Pest Control says any place where food is stored, there's the potential for a rodent infestation.
"Spillage is a big issue, then you have people that take the food and you have the risk of them spilling it and there can be a lot of challenges dealing with rodents inside an establishment," said Poulin.
Empire Theatre movie-goers that CTV spoke to had not heard mouse droppings had been found in the snack counter. But reactions were mixed when it came to whether this news would stop them from coming back.
"Yeah, I'll go back but I think I'm going to bring my own food though," said Jeff Bresler.
Lee-Ann Bowe will find another theatre next time she wants to catch a flick.
"Yeah, I'd think twice about going now definitely," she said.
-- with a report from CTV's Laura Lowe
