Researchers calculated that cutting daily processed meat intake to 20g (just under an ounce) would reduce premature deaths by 3.3 per cent, mainly by cutting cancer and heart disease rates.
About 100,000 people die prematurely in Britain every year, before the age of 65, suggesting the reduction could prevent about 3,000 early deaths a year.
However, the study by Zurich University academics has been criticised by a dietitian.
The researchers, who followed the health of almost 450,000 people aged 35 to 69, found the more processed meat people ate, the more likely they were to die early from any cause.
This was true even after attempting to account for the fact that those who eat more meat tend to be less active, drink more and smoke.
Professor Sabine Rohrmann, who led the analysis of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, said: “Risks of dying earlier from cancer and cardiovascular disease also increased with the amount of processed meat eaten.
“Overall, we estimate that three per cent of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20g processed meat per day."
The researchers also found an indication that eating a lot of unprocessed red meat resulted in higher death rates, although this link was not strong enough for them to consider it statistically valid.
But Dr Carrie Ruxton, a dietitian from the Meat Advisory Panel, said: “This study should not put you off the odd bacon sandwich.”
She argued that such studies could never truly account for lifestyle differences, and isolate the supposed role of meat intake in death rates.
“If you’ve got someone who’s overweight, watching television for hours, munching a meat pie and smoking a fad, which one of those is relevant?” she asked.
“You can’t say reducing processed meat intake will reduce mortality rates by three per cent."