A flavor booster (also called a flavor enhancer) is an ingredient added to food not to introduce a brand-new taste, but to intensify and round out the flavor that's already there — or to recreate a specific, recognizable flavor profile like grilled meat, cheese, or barbecue in a powder or liquid form.
In practice, flavor boosters are what let a bag of chips taste convincingly like pizza, or let a frozen chicken product taste freshly grilled after reheating. Powder flavor boosters are widely used in snack coatings, seasoning blends, and instant soups, while liquid and oil-based flavor boosters are common in processed meat, burger, and kofta production, where they're mixed directly into the product before cooking.
Taste enhancers go a step further: some, like meat and chicken flavor boosters, intensify the food's own natural taste; others, like shawarma or burger binders, serve a dual role of improving texture and juiciness while boosting flavor. For manufacturers, the appeal of flavor boosters is repeatability and cost control — a small, precise dose delivers a strong, consistent flavor impact without relying on large quantities of an expensive raw ingredient, which is exactly why they're a staple across snack, processed-meat, and fast-food supply chains.